excepter — French conjugation

to except

Frequency#414Regular

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
jeexcepteI except
tuexceptesyou except
il/elleexceptehe/she/it excepts
nousexceptonswe except
vousexceptezyou (pl.) except
ils/ellesexceptentthey except

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
jeexceptaiI excepted
tuexceptasyou excepted
il/elleexceptahe/she/it excepted
nousexceptâmeswe excepted
vousexceptâtesyou (pl.) excepted
ils/ellesexceptèrentthey excepted

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
jeexceptais
tuexceptais
il/elleexceptait
nousexceptions
vousexceptiez
ils/ellesexceptaient

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
jeexcepteraisI would except
tuexcepteraisyou would except
il/elleexcepteraithe/she/it would except
nousexcepterionswe would except
vousexcepteriezyou (pl.) would except
ils/ellesexcepteraientthey would except

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
jeexcepteraiI will except
tuexcepterasyou will except
il/elleexcepterahe/she/it will except
nousexcepteronswe will except
vousexcepterezyou (pl.) will except
ils/ellesexcepterontthey will except

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 exceptéI have excepted
tutu as exceptéyou have excepted
il/elleil/elle a exceptéhe/she/it has excepted
nousnous avons exceptéwe have excepted
vousvous avez exceptéyou (pl.) have excepted
ils/ellesils/elles ont exceptéthey have excepted

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 exceptéI had excepted
tutu avais exceptéyou had excepted
il/elleil/elle avait exceptéhe/she/it had excepted
nousnous avions exceptéwe had excepted
vousvous aviez exceptéyou (pl.) had excepted
ils/ellesils/elles avaient exceptéthey had excepted

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

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 exceptéI will have excepted
tutu auras exceptéyou will have excepted
il/elleil/elle aura exceptéhe/she/it will have excepted
nousnous aurons exceptéwe will have excepted
vousvous aurez exceptéyou (pl.) will have excepted
ils/ellesils/elles auront exceptéthey will have excepted

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
jeexcepte
tuexceptes
il/elleexcepte
nousexceptions
vousexceptiez
ils/ellesexceptent

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
jeexceptasse
tuexceptasses
il/elleexceptât
nousexceptassions
vousexceptassiez
ils/ellesexceptassent

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
tuexcepte
nousexceptons
vousexceptez