escalader — French conjugation

to climb

Frequency#49Regular

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
jeescaladeI climb
tuescaladesyou climb
il/elleescaladehe/she/it climbs
nousescaladonswe climb
vousescaladezyou (pl.) climb
ils/ellesescaladentthey climb

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
jeescaladaiI climbed
tuescaladasyou climbed
il/elleescaladahe/she/it climbed
nousescaladâmeswe climbed
vousescaladâtesyou (pl.) climbed
ils/ellesescaladèrentthey climbed

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
jeescaladais
tuescaladais
il/elleescaladait
nousescaladions
vousescaladiez
ils/ellesescaladaient

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
jeescaladeraisI would climb
tuescaladeraisyou would climb
il/elleescaladeraithe/she/it would climb
nousescaladerionswe would climb
vousescaladeriezyou (pl.) would climb
ils/ellesescaladeraientthey would climb

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
jeescaladeraiI will climb
tuescaladerasyou will climb
il/elleescaladerahe/she/it will climb
nousescaladeronswe will climb
vousescaladerezyou (pl.) will climb
ils/ellesescaladerontthey will climb

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 escaladéI have climbed
tutu as escaladéyou have climbed
il/elleil/elle a escaladéhe/she/it has climbed
nousnous avons escaladéwe have climbed
vousvous avez escaladéyou (pl.) have climbed
ils/ellesils/elles ont escaladéthey have climbed

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 escaladéI had climbed
tutu avais escaladéyou had climbed
il/elleil/elle avait escaladéhe/she/it had climbed
nousnous avions escaladéwe had climbed
vousvous aviez escaladéyou (pl.) had climbed
ils/ellesils/elles avaient escaladéthey had climbed

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

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 escaladéI will have climbed
tutu auras escaladéyou will have climbed
il/elleil/elle aura escaladéhe/she/it will have climbed
nousnous aurons escaladéwe will have climbed
vousvous aurez escaladéyou (pl.) will have climbed
ils/ellesils/elles auront escaladéthey will have climbed

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
jeescalade
tuescalades
il/elleescalade
nousescaladions
vousescaladiez
ils/ellesescaladent

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
jeescaladasse
tuescaladasses
il/elleescaladât
nousescaladassions
vousescaladassiez
ils/ellesescaladassent

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
tuescalade
nousescaladons
vousescaladez