flamber — French conjugation

to flame

Frequency#1125Regular

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.

PronounFrenchEnglish
jeflambeI flame
tuflambesyou flame
il/elleflambehe/she/it flames
nousflambonswe flame
vousflambezyou (pl.) flame
ils/ellesflambentthey flame

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
jeflambaiI flamed
tuflambasyou flamed
il/elleflambahe/she/it flamed
nousflambâmeswe flamed
vousflambâtesyou (pl.) flamed
ils/ellesflambèrentthey flamed

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
jeflambais
tuflambais
il/elleflambait
nousflambions
vousflambiez
ils/ellesflambaient

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
jeflamberaisI would flame
tuflamberaisyou would flame
il/elleflamberaithe/she/it would flame
nousflamberionswe would flame
vousflamberiezyou (pl.) would flame
ils/ellesflamberaientthey would flame

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
jeflamberaiI will flame
tuflamberasyou will flame
il/elleflamberahe/she/it will flame
nousflamberonswe will flame
vousflamberezyou (pl.) will flame
ils/ellesflamberontthey will flame

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 flambéI have flamed
tutu as flambéyou have flamed
il/elleil/elle a flambéhe/she/it has flamed
nousnous avons flambéwe have flamed
vousvous avez flambéyou (pl.) have flamed
ils/ellesils/elles ont flambéthey have flamed

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 flambéI had flamed
tutu avais flambéyou had flamed
il/elleil/elle avait flambéhe/she/it had flamed
nousnous avions flambéwe had flamed
vousvous aviez flambéyou (pl.) had flamed
ils/ellesils/elles avaient flambéthey had flamed

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

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 flambéI will have flamed
tutu auras flambéyou will have flamed
il/elleil/elle aura flambéhe/she/it will have flamed
nousnous aurons flambéwe will have flamed
vousvous aurez flambéyou (pl.) will have flamed
ils/ellesils/elles auront flambéthey will have flamed

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
jeflambe
tuflambes
il/elleflambe
nousflambions
vousflambiez
ils/ellesflambent

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
jeflambasse
tuflambasses
il/elleflambât
nousflambassions
vousflambassiez
ils/ellesflambassent

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
tuflambe
nousflambons
vousflambez