fumer — French conjugation

to smoke

Frequency#321Regular

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
jefumeI smoke
tufumesyou smoke
il/ellefumehe/she/it smokes
nousfumonswe smoke
vousfumezyou (pl.) smoke
ils/ellesfumentthey smoke

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
jefumaiI smoked
tufumasyou smoked
il/ellefumahe/she/it smoked
nousfumâmeswe smoked
vousfumâtesyou (pl.) smoked
ils/ellesfumèrentthey smoked

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
jefumais
tufumais
il/ellefumait
nousfumions
vousfumiez
ils/ellesfumaient

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
jefumeraisI would smoke
tufumeraisyou would smoke
il/ellefumeraithe/she/it would smoke
nousfumerionswe would smoke
vousfumeriezyou (pl.) would smoke
ils/ellesfumeraientthey would smoke

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
jefumeraiI will smoke
tufumerasyou will smoke
il/ellefumerahe/she/it will smoke
nousfumeronswe will smoke
vousfumerezyou (pl.) will smoke
ils/ellesfumerontthey will smoke

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 fuméI have smoked
tutu as fuméyou have smoked
il/elleil/elle a fuméhe/she/it has smoked
nousnous avons fuméwe have smoked
vousvous avez fuméyou (pl.) have smoked
ils/ellesils/elles ont fuméthey have smoked

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 fuméI had smoked
tutu avais fuméyou had smoked
il/elleil/elle avait fuméhe/she/it had smoked
nousnous avions fuméwe had smoked
vousvous aviez fuméyou (pl.) had smoked
ils/ellesils/elles avaient fuméthey had smoked

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

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 fuméI will have smoked
tutu auras fuméyou will have smoked
il/elleil/elle aura fuméhe/she/it will have smoked
nousnous aurons fuméwe will have smoked
vousvous aurez fuméyou (pl.) will have smoked
ils/ellesils/elles auront fuméthey will have smoked

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
jefume
tufumes
il/ellefume
nousfumions
vousfumiez
ils/ellesfument

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
jefumasse
tufumasses
il/ellefumât
nousfumassions
vousfumassiez
ils/ellesfumassent

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
tufume
nousfumons
vousfumez