exiger — French conjugation

to demand

Frequency#199Irregular

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
jeexigeI demand
tuexigesyou demand
il/elleexigehe/she/it demands
nousexigeonswe demand
vousexigezyou (pl.) demand
ils/ellesexigentthey demand

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
jeexigeaiI demanded
tuexigeasyou demanded
il/elleexigeahe/she/it demanded
nousexigeâmeswe demanded
vousexigeâtesyou (pl.) demanded
ils/ellesexigèrentthey demanded

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
jeexigeais
tuexigeais
il/elleexigeait
nousexigions
vousexigiez
ils/ellesexigeaient

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
jeexigeraisI would demand
tuexigeraisyou would demand
il/elleexigeraithe/she/it would demand
nousexigerionswe would demand
vousexigeriezyou (pl.) would demand
ils/ellesexigeraientthey would demand

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
jeexigeraiI will demand
tuexigerasyou will demand
il/elleexigerahe/she/it will demand
nousexigeronswe will demand
vousexigerezyou (pl.) will demand
ils/ellesexigerontthey will demand

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 exigéI have demanded
tutu as exigéyou have demanded
il/elleil/elle a exigéhe/she/it has demanded
nousnous avons exigéwe have demanded
vousvous avez exigéyou (pl.) have demanded
ils/ellesils/elles ont exigéthey have demanded

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 exigéI had demanded
tutu avais exigéyou had demanded
il/elleil/elle avait exigéhe/she/it had demanded
nousnous avions exigéwe had demanded
vousvous aviez exigéyou (pl.) had demanded
ils/ellesils/elles avaient exigéthey had demanded

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

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 exigéI will have demanded
tutu auras exigéyou will have demanded
il/elleil/elle aura exigéhe/she/it will have demanded
nousnous aurons exigéwe will have demanded
vousvous aurez exigéyou (pl.) will have demanded
ils/ellesils/elles auront exigéthey will have demanded

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
jeexige
tuexiges
il/elleexige
nousexigions
vousexigiez
ils/ellesexigent

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
jeexigeasse
tuexigeasses
il/elleexigeât
nousexigeassions
vousexigeassiez
ils/ellesexigeassent

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
tuexige
nousexigeons
vousexigez