enfuir — French conjugation

to flee

Frequency#448Irregular

Indicative

Present (Présent) Irregular

Use the présent for habits, what is true now, and what is about to happen soon. A single set of endings covers what English often splits into “I speak” and “I am speaking”.

Elle parle arabe et français.

PronounFrenchEnglish
jeenfuisI flee
tuenfuisyou flee
il/elleenfuithe/she/it flees
nousenfuyonswe flee
vousenfuyezyou (pl.) flee
ils/ellesenfuientthey flee

Simple past (Passé simple) Regular

The passé simple narrates completed past events in a literary or very formal style. In everyday conversation people use the passé composé instead, so you mostly meet this form in books and journalism.

Ils virent le roi s'approcher.

PronounFrenchEnglish
jeenfuisI fled
tuenfuisyou fled
il/elleenfuithe/she/it fled
nousenfuîmeswe fled
vousenfuîtesyou (pl.) fled
ils/ellesenfuirentthey fled

Imperfect (Imparfait) Irregular

The imparfait describes ongoing or repeated past actions and sets the background — how things were, what used to happen, weather, feelings. The passé composé, by contrast, marks single completed events.

Quand j'étais petit, j'allais souvent à la piscine.

PronounFrench
jeenfuyais
tuenfuyais
il/elleenfuyait
nousenfuyions
vousenfuyiez
ils/ellesenfuyaient

Conditional (Conditionnel) Regular

The conditionnel is for polite questions and requests, “would”-type hypotheticals, and what someone said would happen. It is also the usual consequent clause in si + imparfait → conditionnel patterns.

Pourriez-vous répéter, s'il vous plaît ?

PronounFrenchEnglish
jeenfuiraisI would flee
tuenfuiraisyou would flee
il/elleenfuiraithe/she/it would flee
nousenfuirionswe would flee
vousenfuiriezyou (pl.) would flee
ils/ellesenfuiraientthey would flee

Future (Futur) Regular

The futur is for future plans and objective predictions. In speech, aller + infinitive is often clearer for the immediate future, while the simple future is common for facts further ahead or in writing.

Demain, nous dînerons chez eux.

PronounFrenchEnglish
jeenfuiraiI will flee
tuenfuirasyou will flee
il/elleenfuirahe/she/it will flee
nousenfuironswe will flee
vousenfuirezyou (pl.) will flee
ils/ellesenfuirontthey will flee

Present perfect (Passé composé) Regular

The passé composé is the main spoken past for completed, bounded actions (often with a time adverb). Use avoir with most verbs; être is required for a fixed group of motion/inchange and all pronominal verbs, with participle agreement when necessary.

Elle est venue tôt, puis elle a téléphoné.

PronounFrenchEnglish
jej'ai enfuiI have fled
tutu as enfuiyou have fled
il/elleil/elle a enfuihe/she/it has fled
nousnous avons enfuiwe have fled
vousvous avez enfuiyou (pl.) have fled
ils/ellesils/elles ont enfuithey have fled

Pluperfect (Plus-que-parfait) Regular

The plus-que-parfait is the “earlier past”: one action was already over before another past moment. It answers “had already” when a story is anchored in a past time.

Déjà, il avait fini quand je suis arrivé.

PronounFrenchEnglish
jej'avais enfuiI had fled
tutu avais enfuiyou had fled
il/elleil/elle avait enfuihe/she/it had fled
nousnous avions enfuiwe had fled
vousvous aviez enfuiyou (pl.) had fled
ils/ellesils/elles avaient enfuithey had fled

Conditional perfect (Conditionnel passé) Regular

The conditionnel passé states what would have been true, plans that failed, and unreal past if-clauses (often with si + plus-que-parfait in the apodose).

J'aurais dit oui, mais c'était impossible.

PronounFrench
jej'aurais enfui
tutu aurais enfui
il/elleil/elle aurait enfui
nousnous aurions enfui
vousvous auriez enfui
ils/ellesils/elles auraient enfui

Future perfect (Futur antérieur) Regular

The futur antérieur marks an action that will be finished before a later future moment (by then I will have…). It can also suggest a conjecture about a recent past fact in formal or literary use.

D'ici samedi, j'aurai lu le rapport.

PronounFrenchEnglish
jej'aurai enfuiI will have fled
tutu auras enfuiyou will have fled
il/elleil/elle aura enfuihe/she/it will have fled
nousnous aurons enfuiwe will have fled
vousvous aurez enfuiyou (pl.) will have fled
ils/ellesils/elles auront enfuithey will have fled

Subjunctive

Present subjunctive (Subjonctif présent) Irregular

The present subjunctive appears in subordinate clauses after desire, doubt, fear, need, and many impersonals, usually when the subject of the subordinate is different. Learn common triggers: il faut que, je veux que, je doute que…

Il faut qu'il parte avant midi.

PronounFrench
jeenfuie
tuenfuies
il/elleenfuie
nousenfuyions
vousenfuyiez
ils/ellesenfuient

Imperfect subjunctive (Subjonctif imparfait) Regular

The imparfait du subjonctif is a literary and formal past subjunctive. In modern speech, the present subjunctive usually replaces it for the same meaning.

Bien qu'il fût fatigué, il continua.

PronounFrench
jeenfuisse
tuenfuisses
il/elleenfuît
nousenfuissions
vousenfuissiez
ils/ellesenfuissent

Other forms

Imperative (Impératif) Regular

The imperative is for direct orders and advice to tu, nous, and vous. For many -er verbs, the tu form drops the final -s of the present (parle!); negatives use the subjunctive-like forms in practice.

Fermons la porte, s'il vous plaît !

PronounFrench
tuenfuis
nousenfuyons
vousenfuyez