épicer — French conjugation

to spice

Frequency#310Irregular

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
jeépiceI spice
tuépicesyou spice
il/elleépicehe/she/it spices
nousépiçonswe spice
vousépicezyou (pl.) spice
ils/ellesépicentthey spice

Simple past (Passé simple) Irregular

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
jeépiçaiI spiced
tuépiçasyou spiced
il/elleépiçahe/she/it spiced
nousépiçâmeswe spiced
vousépiçâtesyou (pl.) spiced
ils/ellesépicèrentthey spiced

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
jeépiçais
tuépiçais
il/elleépiçait
nousépicions
vousépiciez
ils/ellesépiçaient

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
jeépiceraisI would spice
tuépiceraisyou would spice
il/elleépiceraithe/she/it would spice
nousépicerionswe would spice
vousépiceriezyou (pl.) would spice
ils/ellesépiceraientthey would spice

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
jeépiceraiI will spice
tuépicerasyou will spice
il/elleépicerahe/she/it will spice
nousépiceronswe will spice
vousépicerezyou (pl.) will spice
ils/ellesépicerontthey will spice

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 épicéI have spiced
tutu as épicéyou have spiced
il/elleil/elle a épicéhe/she/it has spiced
nousnous avons épicéwe have spiced
vousvous avez épicéyou (pl.) have spiced
ils/ellesils/elles ont épicéthey have spiced

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 épicéI had spiced
tutu avais épicéyou had spiced
il/elleil/elle avait épicéhe/she/it had spiced
nousnous avions épicéwe had spiced
vousvous aviez épicéyou (pl.) had spiced
ils/ellesils/elles avaient épicéthey had spiced

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

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 épicéI will have spiced
tutu auras épicéyou will have spiced
il/elleil/elle aura épicéhe/she/it will have spiced
nousnous aurons épicéwe will have spiced
vousvous aurez épicéyou (pl.) will have spiced
ils/ellesils/elles auront épicéthey will have spiced

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
jeépice
tuépices
il/elleépice
nousépicions
vousépiciez
ils/ellesépicent

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
jeépiçasse
tuépiçasses
il/elleépiçât
nousépiçassions
vousépiçassiez
ils/ellesépiçassent

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
tuépice
nousépiçons
vousépicez