fiancer — French conjugation

to get engaged

Frequency#230Irregular

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
jefianceI get engaged
tufiancesyou get engaged
il/ellefiancehe/she/it gets engaged
nousfiançonswe get engaged
vousfiancezyou (pl.) get engaged
ils/ellesfiancentthey get engaged

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
jefiançaiI got engaged
tufiançasyou got engaged
il/ellefiançahe/she/it got engaged
nousfiançâmeswe got engaged
vousfiançâtesyou (pl.) got engaged
ils/ellesfiancèrentthey got engaged

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
jefiançais
tufiançais
il/ellefiançait
nousfiancions
vousfianciez
ils/ellesfiançaient

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
jefianceraisI would get engaged
tufianceraisyou would get engaged
il/ellefianceraithe/she/it would get engaged
nousfiancerionswe would get engaged
vousfianceriezyou (pl.) would get engaged
ils/ellesfianceraientthey would get engaged

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
jefianceraiI will get engaged
tufiancerasyou will get engaged
il/ellefiancerahe/she/it will get engaged
nousfianceronswe will get engaged
vousfiancerezyou (pl.) will get engaged
ils/ellesfiancerontthey will get engaged

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 fiancéI have gotten engaged
tutu as fiancéyou have gotten engaged
il/elleil/elle a fiancéhe/she/it has gotten engaged
nousnous avons fiancéwe have gotten engaged
vousvous avez fiancéyou (pl.) have gotten engaged
ils/ellesils/elles ont fiancéthey have gotten engaged

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 fiancéI had gotten engaged
tutu avais fiancéyou had gotten engaged
il/elleil/elle avait fiancéhe/she/it had gotten engaged
nousnous avions fiancéwe had gotten engaged
vousvous aviez fiancéyou (pl.) had gotten engaged
ils/ellesils/elles avaient fiancéthey had gotten engaged

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

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 fiancéI will have gotten engaged
tutu auras fiancéyou will have gotten engaged
il/elleil/elle aura fiancéhe/she/it will have gotten engaged
nousnous aurons fiancéwe will have gotten engaged
vousvous aurez fiancéyou (pl.) will have gotten engaged
ils/ellesils/elles auront fiancéthey will have gotten engaged

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
jefiance
tufiances
il/ellefiance
nousfiancions
vousfianciez
ils/ellesfiancent

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
jefiançasse
tufiançasses
il/ellefiançât
nousfiançassions
vousfiançassiez
ils/ellesfiançassent

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
tufiance
nousfiançons
vousfiancez