fuir — French conjugation

to flee

Frequency#812Irregular

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
jefuisI flee
tufuisyou flee
il/ellefuithe/she/it flees
nousfuyonswe flee
vousfuyezyou (pl.) flee
ils/ellesfuientthey flee

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
jefuisI fled
tufuisyou fled
il/ellefuithe/she/it fled
nousfuîmeswe fled
vousfuîtesyou (pl.) fled
ils/ellesfuirentthey fled

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
jefuyais
tufuyais
il/ellefuyait
nousfuyions
vousfuyiez
ils/ellesfuyaient

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
jefuiraisI would flee
tufuiraisyou would flee
il/ellefuiraithe/she/it would flee
nousfuirionswe would flee
vousfuiriezyou (pl.) would flee
ils/ellesfuiraientthey would flee

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
jefuiraiI will flee
tufuirasyou will flee
il/ellefuirahe/she/it will flee
nousfuironswe will flee
vousfuirezyou (pl.) will flee
ils/ellesfuirontthey will flee

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 fuiI have fled
tutu as fuiyou have fled
il/elleil/elle a fuihe/she/it has fled
nousnous avons fuiwe have fled
vousvous avez fuiyou (pl.) have fled
ils/ellesils/elles ont fuithey have fled

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 fuiI had fled
tutu avais fuiyou had fled
il/elleil/elle avait fuihe/she/it had fled
nousnous avions fuiwe had fled
vousvous aviez fuiyou (pl.) had fled
ils/ellesils/elles avaient fuithey had fled

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

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 fuiI will have fled
tutu auras fuiyou will have fled
il/elleil/elle aura fuihe/she/it will have fled
nousnous aurons fuiwe will have fled
vousvous aurez fuiyou (pl.) will have fled
ils/ellesils/elles auront fuithey will have fled

Subjunctive

Present subjunctive (Subjonctif présent) Irregular

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
jefuie
tufuies
il/ellefuie
nousfuyions
vousfuyiez
ils/ellesfuient

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
jefuisse
tufuisses
il/ellefuît
nousfuissions
vousfuissiez
ils/ellesfuissent

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
tufuis
nousfuyons
vousfuyez