envier — French conjugation

to envy

Frequency#916Regular

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
jeenvieI envy
tuenviesyou envy
il/elleenviehe/she/it envies
nousenvionswe envy
vousenviezyou (pl.) envy
ils/ellesenvientthey envy

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
jeenviaiI envied
tuenviasyou envied
il/elleenviahe/she/it envied
nousenviâmeswe envied
vousenviâtesyou (pl.) envied
ils/ellesenvièrentthey envied

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
jeenviais
tuenviais
il/elleenviait
nousenviions
vousenviiez
ils/ellesenviaient

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
jeenvieraisI would envy
tuenvieraisyou would envy
il/elleenvieraithe/she/it would envy
nousenvierionswe would envy
vousenvieriezyou (pl.) would envy
ils/ellesenvieraientthey would envy

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
jeenvieraiI will envy
tuenvierasyou will envy
il/elleenvierahe/she/it will envy
nousenvieronswe will envy
vousenvierezyou (pl.) will envy
ils/ellesenvierontthey will envy

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 enviéI have envied
tutu as enviéyou have envied
il/elleil/elle a enviéhe/she/it has envied
nousnous avons enviéwe have envied
vousvous avez enviéyou (pl.) have envied
ils/ellesils/elles ont enviéthey have envied

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 enviéI had envied
tutu avais enviéyou had envied
il/elleil/elle avait enviéhe/she/it had envied
nousnous avions enviéwe had envied
vousvous aviez enviéyou (pl.) had envied
ils/ellesils/elles avaient enviéthey had envied

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

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 enviéI will have envied
tutu auras enviéyou will have envied
il/elleil/elle aura enviéhe/she/it will have envied
nousnous aurons enviéwe will have envied
vousvous aurez enviéyou (pl.) will have envied
ils/ellesils/elles auront enviéthey will have envied

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
jeenvie
tuenvies
il/elleenvie
nousenviions
vousenviiez
ils/ellesenvient

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
jeenviasse
tuenviasses
il/elleenviât
nousenviassions
vousenviassiez
ils/ellesenviassent

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
tuenvie
nousenvions
vousenviez