fondre — French conjugation

to melt

Frequency#707Regular

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
jefondsI melt
tufondsyou melt
il/ellefondhe/she/it melts
nousfondonswe melt
vousfondezyou (pl.) melt
ils/ellesfondentthey melt

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
jefondisI melted
tufondisyou melted
il/ellefondithe/she/it melted
nousfondîmeswe melted
vousfondîtesyou (pl.) melted
ils/ellesfondirentthey melted

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
jefondais
tufondais
il/ellefondait
nousfondions
vousfondiez
ils/ellesfondaient

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
jefondraisI would melt
tufondraisyou would melt
il/ellefondraithe/she/it would melt
nousfondrionswe would melt
vousfondriezyou (pl.) would melt
ils/ellesfondraientthey would melt

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
jefondraiI will melt
tufondrasyou will melt
il/ellefondrahe/she/it will melt
nousfondronswe will melt
vousfondrezyou (pl.) will melt
ils/ellesfondrontthey will melt

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 fonduI have melted
tutu as fonduyou have melted
il/elleil/elle a fonduhe/she/it has melted
nousnous avons fonduwe have melted
vousvous avez fonduyou (pl.) have melted
ils/ellesils/elles ont fonduthey have melted

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 fonduI had melted
tutu avais fonduyou had melted
il/elleil/elle avait fonduhe/she/it had melted
nousnous avions fonduwe had melted
vousvous aviez fonduyou (pl.) had melted
ils/ellesils/elles avaient fonduthey had melted

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

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 fonduI will have melted
tutu auras fonduyou will have melted
il/elleil/elle aura fonduhe/she/it will have melted
nousnous aurons fonduwe will have melted
vousvous aurez fonduyou (pl.) will have melted
ils/ellesils/elles auront fonduthey will have melted

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
jefonde
tufondes
il/ellefonde
nousfondions
vousfondiez
ils/ellesfondent

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
jefondisse
tufondisses
il/ellefondît
nousfondissions
vousfondissiez
ils/ellesfondissent

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
tufonds
nousfondons
vousfondez