entourer — French conjugation

to surround

Frequency#360Regular

Indicative

Present (Présent) Regular

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
jeentoureI surround
tuentouresyou surround
il/elleentourehe/she/it surrounds
nousentouronswe surround
vousentourezyou (pl.) surround
ils/ellesentourentthey surround

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
jeentouraiI surrounded
tuentourasyou surrounded
il/elleentourahe/she/it surrounded
nousentourâmeswe surrounded
vousentourâtesyou (pl.) surrounded
ils/ellesentourèrentthey surrounded

Imperfect (Imparfait) Regular

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
jeentourais
tuentourais
il/elleentourait
nousentourions
vousentouriez
ils/ellesentouraient

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
jeentoureraisI would surround
tuentoureraisyou would surround
il/elleentoureraithe/she/it would surround
nousentourerionswe would surround
vousentoureriezyou (pl.) would surround
ils/ellesentoureraientthey would surround

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
jeentoureraiI will surround
tuentourerasyou will surround
il/elleentourerahe/she/it will surround
nousentoureronswe will surround
vousentourerezyou (pl.) will surround
ils/ellesentourerontthey will surround

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 entouréI have surrounded
tutu as entouréyou have surrounded
il/elleil/elle a entouréhe/she/it has surrounded
nousnous avons entouréwe have surrounded
vousvous avez entouréyou (pl.) have surrounded
ils/ellesils/elles ont entouréthey have surrounded

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 entouréI had surrounded
tutu avais entouréyou had surrounded
il/elleil/elle avait entouréhe/she/it had surrounded
nousnous avions entouréwe had surrounded
vousvous aviez entouréyou (pl.) had surrounded
ils/ellesils/elles avaient entouréthey had surrounded

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 entouré
tutu aurais entouré
il/elleil/elle aurait entouré
nousnous aurions entouré
vousvous auriez entouré
ils/ellesils/elles auraient entouré

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 entouréI will have surrounded
tutu auras entouréyou will have surrounded
il/elleil/elle aura entouréhe/she/it will have surrounded
nousnous aurons entouréwe will have surrounded
vousvous aurez entouréyou (pl.) will have surrounded
ils/ellesils/elles auront entouréthey will have surrounded

Subjunctive

Present subjunctive (Subjonctif présent) Regular

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
jeentoure
tuentoures
il/elleentoure
nousentourions
vousentouriez
ils/ellesentourent

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
jeentourasse
tuentourasses
il/elleentourât
nousentourassions
vousentourassiez
ils/ellesentourassent

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
tuentoure
nousentourons
vousentourez