festoyer — French conjugation

to feast

Frequency#359Irregular

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
jefestoieI feast
tufestoiesyou feast
il/ellefestoiehe/she/it feasts
nousfestoyonswe feast
vousfestoyezyou (pl.) feast
ils/ellesfestoientthey feast

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
jefestoyaiI feasted
tufestoyasyou feasted
il/ellefestoyahe/she/it feasted
nousfestoyâmeswe feasted
vousfestoyâtesyou (pl.) feasted
ils/ellesfestoyèrentthey feasted

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
jefestoyais
tufestoyais
il/ellefestoyait
nousfestoyions
vousfestoyiez
ils/ellesfestoyaient

Conditional (Conditionnel) Irregular

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
jefestoieraisI would feast
tufestoieraisyou would feast
il/ellefestoieraithe/she/it would feast
nousfestoierionswe would feast
vousfestoieriezyou (pl.) would feast
ils/ellesfestoieraientthey would feast

Future (Futur) Irregular

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
jefestoieraiI will feast
tufestoierasyou will feast
il/ellefestoierahe/she/it will feast
nousfestoieronswe will feast
vousfestoierezyou (pl.) will feast
ils/ellesfestoierontthey will feast

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 festoyéI have feasted
tutu as festoyéyou have feasted
il/elleil/elle a festoyéhe/she/it has feasted
nousnous avons festoyéwe have feasted
vousvous avez festoyéyou (pl.) have feasted
ils/ellesils/elles ont festoyéthey have feasted

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 festoyéI had feasted
tutu avais festoyéyou had feasted
il/elleil/elle avait festoyéhe/she/it had feasted
nousnous avions festoyéwe had feasted
vousvous aviez festoyéyou (pl.) had feasted
ils/ellesils/elles avaient festoyéthey had feasted

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

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 festoyéI will have feasted
tutu auras festoyéyou will have feasted
il/elleil/elle aura festoyéhe/she/it will have feasted
nousnous aurons festoyéwe will have feasted
vousvous aurez festoyéyou (pl.) will have feasted
ils/ellesils/elles auront festoyéthey will have feasted

Subjunctive

Present subjunctive (Subjonctif présent) Irregular

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
jefestoie
tufestoies
il/ellefestoie
nousfestoyions
vousfestoyiez
ils/ellesfestoient

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
jefestoyasse
tufestoyasses
il/ellefestoyât
nousfestoyassions
vousfestoyassiez
ils/ellesfestoyassent

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
tufestoie
nousfestoyons
vousfestoyez