franchir — French conjugation

to cross

Frequency#1031Regular

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
jefranchisI cross
tufranchisyou cross
il/ellefranchithe/she/it crosses
nousfranchissonswe cross
vousfranchissezyou (pl.) cross
ils/ellesfranchissentthey cross

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
jefranchisI crossed
tufranchisyou crossed
il/ellefranchithe/she/it crossed
nousfranchîmeswe crossed
vousfranchîtesyou (pl.) crossed
ils/ellesfranchirentthey crossed

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
jefranchissais
tufranchissais
il/ellefranchissait
nousfranchissions
vousfranchissiez
ils/ellesfranchissaient

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
jefranchiraisI would cross
tufranchiraisyou would cross
il/ellefranchiraithe/she/it would cross
nousfranchirionswe would cross
vousfranchiriezyou (pl.) would cross
ils/ellesfranchiraientthey would cross

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
jefranchiraiI will cross
tufranchirasyou will cross
il/ellefranchirahe/she/it will cross
nousfranchironswe will cross
vousfranchirezyou (pl.) will cross
ils/ellesfranchirontthey will cross

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 franchiI have crossed
tutu as franchiyou have crossed
il/elleil/elle a franchihe/she/it has crossed
nousnous avons franchiwe have crossed
vousvous avez franchiyou (pl.) have crossed
ils/ellesils/elles ont franchithey have crossed

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 franchiI had crossed
tutu avais franchiyou had crossed
il/elleil/elle avait franchihe/she/it had crossed
nousnous avions franchiwe had crossed
vousvous aviez franchiyou (pl.) had crossed
ils/ellesils/elles avaient franchithey had crossed

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

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 franchiI will have crossed
tutu auras franchiyou will have crossed
il/elleil/elle aura franchihe/she/it will have crossed
nousnous aurons franchiwe will have crossed
vousvous aurez franchiyou (pl.) will have crossed
ils/ellesils/elles auront franchithey will have crossed

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
jefranchisse
tufranchisses
il/ellefranchisse
nousfranchissions
vousfranchissiez
ils/ellesfranchissent

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
jefranchisse
tufranchisses
il/ellefranchît
nousfranchissions
vousfranchissiez
ils/ellesfranchissent

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
tufranchis
nousfranchissons
vousfranchissez