financer — French conjugation

to finance

Frequency#301Irregular

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
jefinanceI finance
tufinancesyou finance
il/ellefinancehe/she/it finances
nousfinançonswe finance
vousfinancezyou (pl.) finance
ils/ellesfinancentthey finance

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
jefinançaiI financed
tufinançasyou financed
il/ellefinançahe/she/it financed
nousfinançâmeswe financed
vousfinançâtesyou (pl.) financed
ils/ellesfinancèrentthey financed

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
jefinançais
tufinançais
il/ellefinançait
nousfinancions
vousfinanciez
ils/ellesfinançaient

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
jefinanceraisI would finance
tufinanceraisyou would finance
il/ellefinanceraithe/she/it would finance
nousfinancerionswe would finance
vousfinanceriezyou (pl.) would finance
ils/ellesfinanceraientthey would finance

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
jefinanceraiI will finance
tufinancerasyou will finance
il/ellefinancerahe/she/it will finance
nousfinanceronswe will finance
vousfinancerezyou (pl.) will finance
ils/ellesfinancerontthey will finance

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 financéI have financed
tutu as financéyou have financed
il/elleil/elle a financéhe/she/it has financed
nousnous avons financéwe have financed
vousvous avez financéyou (pl.) have financed
ils/ellesils/elles ont financéthey have financed

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 financéI had financed
tutu avais financéyou had financed
il/elleil/elle avait financéhe/she/it had financed
nousnous avions financéwe had financed
vousvous aviez financéyou (pl.) had financed
ils/ellesils/elles avaient financéthey had financed

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

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 financéI will have financed
tutu auras financéyou will have financed
il/elleil/elle aura financéhe/she/it will have financed
nousnous aurons financéwe will have financed
vousvous aurez financéyou (pl.) will have financed
ils/ellesils/elles auront financéthey will have financed

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
jefinance
tufinances
il/ellefinance
nousfinancions
vousfinanciez
ils/ellesfinancent

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
jefinançasse
tufinançasses
il/ellefinançât
nousfinançassions
vousfinançassiez
ils/ellesfinançassent

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
tufinance
nousfinançons
vousfinancez