errer — French conjugation

to wander, to wander about

Frequency#102Regular

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
jeerreI wander
tuerresyou wander
il/elleerrehe/she/it wanders
nouserronswe wander
vouserrezyou (pl.) wander
ils/elleserrentthey wander

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
jeerraiI wandered
tuerrasyou wandered
il/elleerrahe/she/it wandered
nouserrâmeswe wandered
vouserrâtesyou (pl.) wandered
ils/elleserrèrentthey wandered

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
jeerrais
tuerrais
il/elleerrait
nouserrions
vouserriez
ils/elleserraient

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
jeerreraisI would wander
tuerreraisyou would wander
il/elleerreraithe/she/it would wander
nouserrerionswe would wander
vouserreriezyou (pl.) would wander
ils/elleserreraientthey would wander

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
jeerreraiI will wander
tuerrerasyou will wander
il/elleerrerahe/she/it will wander
nouserreronswe will wander
vouserrerezyou (pl.) will wander
ils/elleserrerontthey will wander

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 erréI have wandered
tutu as erréyou have wandered
il/elleil/elle a erréhe/she/it has wandered
nousnous avons erréwe have wandered
vousvous avez erréyou (pl.) have wandered
ils/ellesils/elles ont erréthey have wandered

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 erréI had wandered
tutu avais erréyou had wandered
il/elleil/elle avait erréhe/she/it had wandered
nousnous avions erréwe had wandered
vousvous aviez erréyou (pl.) had wandered
ils/ellesils/elles avaient erréthey had wandered

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

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 erréI will have wandered
tutu auras erréyou will have wandered
il/elleil/elle aura erréhe/she/it will have wandered
nousnous aurons erréwe will have wandered
vousvous aurez erréyou (pl.) will have wandered
ils/ellesils/elles auront erréthey will have wandered

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
jeerre
tuerres
il/elleerre
nouserrions
vouserriez
ils/elleserrent

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
jeerrasse
tuerrasses
il/elleerrât
nouserrassions
vouserrassiez
ils/elleserrassent

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
tuerre
nouserrons
vouserrez