étouffer — French conjugation
to suffocate
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.
| Pronoun | French | English |
|---|---|---|
| je | étouffe | I suffocate |
| tu | étouffes | you suffocate |
| il/elle | étouffe | he/she/it suffocates |
| nous | étouffons | we suffocate |
| vous | étouffez | you (pl.) suffocate |
| ils/elles | étouffent | they suffocate |
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.
| Pronoun | French | English |
|---|---|---|
| je | étouffai | I suffocated |
| tu | étouffas | you suffocated |
| il/elle | étouffa | he/she/it suffocated |
| nous | étouffâmes | we suffocated |
| vous | étouffâtes | you (pl.) suffocated |
| ils/elles | étouffèrent | they suffocated |
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.
| Pronoun | French |
|---|---|
| je | étouffais |
| tu | étouffais |
| il/elle | étouffait |
| nous | étouffions |
| vous | étouffiez |
| ils/elles | étouffaient |
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 ?
| Pronoun | French | English |
|---|---|---|
| je | étoufferais | I would suffocate |
| tu | étoufferais | you would suffocate |
| il/elle | étoufferait | he/she/it would suffocate |
| nous | étoufferions | we would suffocate |
| vous | étoufferiez | you (pl.) would suffocate |
| ils/elles | étoufferaient | they would suffocate |
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.
| Pronoun | French | English |
|---|---|---|
| je | étoufferai | I will suffocate |
| tu | étoufferas | you will suffocate |
| il/elle | étouffera | he/she/it will suffocate |
| nous | étoufferons | we will suffocate |
| vous | étoufferez | you (pl.) will suffocate |
| ils/elles | étoufferont | they will suffocate |
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.
| Pronoun | French | English |
|---|---|---|
| je | j'ai étouffé | I have suffocated |
| tu | tu as étouffé | you have suffocated |
| il/elle | il/elle a étouffé | he/she/it has suffocated |
| nous | nous avons étouffé | we have suffocated |
| vous | vous avez étouffé | you (pl.) have suffocated |
| ils/elles | ils/elles ont étouffé | they have suffocated |
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.
| Pronoun | French | English |
|---|---|---|
| je | j'avais étouffé | I had suffocated |
| tu | tu avais étouffé | you had suffocated |
| il/elle | il/elle avait étouffé | he/she/it had suffocated |
| nous | nous avions étouffé | we had suffocated |
| vous | vous aviez étouffé | you (pl.) had suffocated |
| ils/elles | ils/elles avaient étouffé | they had suffocated |
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.
| Pronoun | French |
|---|---|
| je | j'aurais étouffé |
| tu | tu aurais étouffé |
| il/elle | il/elle aurait étouffé |
| nous | nous aurions étouffé |
| vous | vous auriez étouffé |
| ils/elles | ils/elles auraient étouffé |
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.
| Pronoun | French | English |
|---|---|---|
| je | j'aurai étouffé | I will have suffocated |
| tu | tu auras étouffé | you will have suffocated |
| il/elle | il/elle aura étouffé | he/she/it will have suffocated |
| nous | nous aurons étouffé | we will have suffocated |
| vous | vous aurez étouffé | you (pl.) will have suffocated |
| ils/elles | ils/elles auront étouffé | they will have suffocated |
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.
| Pronoun | French |
|---|---|
| je | étouffe |
| tu | étouffes |
| il/elle | étouffe |
| nous | étouffions |
| vous | étouffiez |
| ils/elles | étouffent |
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.
| Pronoun | French |
|---|---|
| je | étouffasse |
| tu | étouffasses |
| il/elle | étouffât |
| nous | étouffassions |
| vous | étouffassiez |
| ils/elles | étouffassent |
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 !
| Pronoun | French |
|---|---|
| tu | étouffe |
| nous | étouffons |
| vous | étouffez |