fauter — French conjugation
to fail
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 | faute | I fail |
| tu | fautes | you fail |
| il/elle | faute | he/she/it fails |
| nous | fautons | we fail |
| vous | fautez | you (pl.) fail |
| ils/elles | fautent | they fail |
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 | fautai | I failed |
| tu | fautas | you failed |
| il/elle | fauta | he/she/it failed |
| nous | fautâmes | we failed |
| vous | fautâtes | you (pl.) failed |
| ils/elles | fautèrent | they failed |
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 | fautais |
| tu | fautais |
| il/elle | fautait |
| nous | fautions |
| vous | fautiez |
| ils/elles | fautaient |
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 | fauterais | I would fail |
| tu | fauterais | you would fail |
| il/elle | fauterait | he/she/it would fail |
| nous | fauterions | we would fail |
| vous | fauteriez | you (pl.) would fail |
| ils/elles | fauteraient | they would fail |
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 | fauterai | I will fail |
| tu | fauteras | you will fail |
| il/elle | fautera | he/she/it will fail |
| nous | fauterons | we will fail |
| vous | fauterez | you (pl.) will fail |
| ils/elles | fauteront | they will fail |
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 fauté | I have failed |
| tu | tu as fauté | you have failed |
| il/elle | il/elle a fauté | he/she/it has failed |
| nous | nous avons fauté | we have failed |
| vous | vous avez fauté | you (pl.) have failed |
| ils/elles | ils/elles ont fauté | they have failed |
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 fauté | I had failed |
| tu | tu avais fauté | you had failed |
| il/elle | il/elle avait fauté | he/she/it had failed |
| nous | nous avions fauté | we had failed |
| vous | vous aviez fauté | you (pl.) had failed |
| ils/elles | ils/elles avaient fauté | they had failed |
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 fauté |
| tu | tu aurais fauté |
| il/elle | il/elle aurait fauté |
| nous | nous aurions fauté |
| vous | vous auriez fauté |
| ils/elles | ils/elles auraient fauté |
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 fauté | I will have failed |
| tu | tu auras fauté | you will have failed |
| il/elle | il/elle aura fauté | he/she/it will have failed |
| nous | nous aurons fauté | we will have failed |
| vous | vous aurez fauté | you (pl.) will have failed |
| ils/elles | ils/elles auront fauté | they will have failed |
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 | faute |
| tu | fautes |
| il/elle | faute |
| nous | fautions |
| vous | fautiez |
| ils/elles | fautent |
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 | fautasse |
| tu | fautasses |
| il/elle | fautât |
| nous | fautassions |
| vous | fautassiez |
| ils/elles | fautassent |
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 | faute |
| nous | fautons |
| vous | fautez |