feuilleter — French conjugation

to leaf through

Frequency#884Irregular

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
jefeuilletteI leaf through
tufeuillettesyou leaf through
il/ellefeuillettehe/she/it leafs through
nousfeuilletonswe leaf through
vousfeuilletezyou (pl.) leaf through
ils/ellesfeuillettentthey leaf through

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
jefeuilletaiI leafed through
tufeuilletasyou leafed through
il/ellefeuilletahe/she/it leafed through
nousfeuilletâmeswe leafed through
vousfeuilletâtesyou (pl.) leafed through
ils/ellesfeuilletèrentthey leafed through

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
jefeuilletais
tufeuilletais
il/ellefeuilletait
nousfeuilletions
vousfeuilletiez
ils/ellesfeuilletaient

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
jefeuilletteraisI would leaf through
tufeuilletteraisyou would leaf through
il/ellefeuilletteraithe/she/it would leaf through
nousfeuilletterionswe would leaf through
vousfeuilletteriezyou (pl.) would leaf through
ils/ellesfeuilletteraientthey would leaf through

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
jefeuilletteraiI will leaf through
tufeuilletterasyou will leaf through
il/ellefeuilletterahe/she/it will leaf through
nousfeuilletteronswe will leaf through
vousfeuilletterezyou (pl.) will leaf through
ils/ellesfeuilletterontthey will leaf through

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 feuilletéI have leafed through
tutu as feuilletéyou have leafed through
il/elleil/elle a feuilletéhe/she/it has leafed through
nousnous avons feuilletéwe have leafed through
vousvous avez feuilletéyou (pl.) have leafed through
ils/ellesils/elles ont feuilletéthey have leafed through

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 feuilletéI had leafed through
tutu avais feuilletéyou had leafed through
il/elleil/elle avait feuilletéhe/she/it had leafed through
nousnous avions feuilletéwe had leafed through
vousvous aviez feuilletéyou (pl.) had leafed through
ils/ellesils/elles avaient feuilletéthey had leafed through

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

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 feuilletéI will have leafed through
tutu auras feuilletéyou will have leafed through
il/elleil/elle aura feuilletéhe/she/it will have leafed through
nousnous aurons feuilletéwe will have leafed through
vousvous aurez feuilletéyou (pl.) will have leafed through
ils/ellesils/elles auront feuilletéthey will have leafed through

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
jefeuillette
tufeuillettes
il/ellefeuillette
nousfeuilletions
vousfeuilletiez
ils/ellesfeuillettent

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
jefeuilletasse
tufeuilletasses
il/ellefeuilletât
nousfeuilletassions
vousfeuilletassiez
ils/ellesfeuilletassent

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
tufeuillette
nousfeuilletons
vousfeuilletez