gâcher — French conjugation

to ruin

Frequency#282Regular

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
jegâcheI ruin
tugâchesyou ruin
il/ellegâchehe/she/it ruins
nousgâchonswe ruin
vousgâchezyou (pl.) ruin
ils/ellesgâchentthey ruin

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
jegâchaiI ruined
tugâchasyou ruined
il/ellegâchahe/she/it ruined
nousgâchâmeswe ruined
vousgâchâtesyou (pl.) ruined
ils/ellesgâchèrentthey ruined

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
jegâchais
tugâchais
il/ellegâchait
nousgâchions
vousgâchiez
ils/ellesgâchaient

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
jegâcheraisI would ruin
tugâcheraisyou would ruin
il/ellegâcheraithe/she/it would ruin
nousgâcherionswe would ruin
vousgâcheriezyou (pl.) would ruin
ils/ellesgâcheraientthey would ruin

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
jegâcheraiI will ruin
tugâcherasyou will ruin
il/ellegâcherahe/she/it will ruin
nousgâcheronswe will ruin
vousgâcherezyou (pl.) will ruin
ils/ellesgâcherontthey will ruin

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 gâchéI have ruined
tutu as gâchéyou have ruined
il/elleil/elle a gâchéhe/she/it has ruined
nousnous avons gâchéwe have ruined
vousvous avez gâchéyou (pl.) have ruined
ils/ellesils/elles ont gâchéthey have ruined

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 gâchéI had ruined
tutu avais gâchéyou had ruined
il/elleil/elle avait gâchéhe/she/it had ruined
nousnous avions gâchéwe had ruined
vousvous aviez gâchéyou (pl.) had ruined
ils/ellesils/elles avaient gâchéthey had ruined

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

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 gâchéI will have ruined
tutu auras gâchéyou will have ruined
il/elleil/elle aura gâchéhe/she/it will have ruined
nousnous aurons gâchéwe will have ruined
vousvous aurez gâchéyou (pl.) will have ruined
ils/ellesils/elles auront gâchéthey will have ruined

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
jegâche
tugâches
il/ellegâche
nousgâchions
vousgâchiez
ils/ellesgâchent

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
jegâchasse
tugâchasses
il/ellegâchât
nousgâchassions
vousgâchassiez
ils/ellesgâchassent

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
tugâche
nousgâchons
vousgâchez