fasciner — French conjugation

to fascinate (to captivate)

Frequency#763Regular

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
jefascineI fascinate
tufascinesyou fascinate
il/ellefascinehe/she/it fascinates
nousfascinonswe fascinate
vousfascinezyou (pl.) fascinate
ils/ellesfascinentthey fascinate

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
jefascinaiI fascinated
tufascinasyou fascinated
il/ellefascinahe/she/it fascinated
nousfascinâmeswe fascinated
vousfascinâtesyou (pl.) fascinated
ils/ellesfascinèrentthey fascinated

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
jefascinais
tufascinais
il/ellefascinait
nousfascinions
vousfasciniez
ils/ellesfascinaient

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
jefascineraisI would fascinate
tufascineraisyou would fascinate
il/ellefascineraithe/she/it would fascinate
nousfascinerionswe would fascinate
vousfascineriezyou (pl.) would fascinate
ils/ellesfascineraientthey would fascinate

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
jefascineraiI will fascinate
tufascinerasyou will fascinate
il/ellefascinerahe/she/it will fascinate
nousfascineronswe will fascinate
vousfascinerezyou (pl.) will fascinate
ils/ellesfascinerontthey will fascinate

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 fascinéI have fascinated
tutu as fascinéyou have fascinated
il/elleil/elle a fascinéhe/she/it has fascinated
nousnous avons fascinéwe have fascinated
vousvous avez fascinéyou (pl.) have fascinated
ils/ellesils/elles ont fascinéthey have fascinated

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 fascinéI had fascinated
tutu avais fascinéyou had fascinated
il/elleil/elle avait fascinéhe/she/it had fascinated
nousnous avions fascinéwe had fascinated
vousvous aviez fascinéyou (pl.) had fascinated
ils/ellesils/elles avaient fascinéthey had fascinated

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

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 fascinéI will have fascinated
tutu auras fascinéyou will have fascinated
il/elleil/elle aura fascinéhe/she/it will have fascinated
nousnous aurons fascinéwe will have fascinated
vousvous aurez fascinéyou (pl.) will have fascinated
ils/ellesils/elles auront fascinéthey will have fascinated

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
jefascine
tufascines
il/ellefascine
nousfascinions
vousfasciniez
ils/ellesfascinent

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
jefascinasse
tufascinasses
il/ellefascinât
nousfascinassions
vousfascinassiez
ils/ellesfascinassent

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
tufascine
nousfascinons
vousfascinez