grandir — French conjugation

to grow

Frequency#148Regular

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
jegrandisI grow
tugrandisyou grow
il/ellegrandithe/she/it grows
nousgrandissonswe grow
vousgrandissezyou (pl.) grow
ils/ellesgrandissentthey grow

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
jegrandisI grew
tugrandisyou grew
il/ellegrandithe/she/it grew
nousgrandîmeswe grew
vousgrandîtesyou (pl.) grew
ils/ellesgrandirentthey grew

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
jegrandissais
tugrandissais
il/ellegrandissait
nousgrandissions
vousgrandissiez
ils/ellesgrandissaient

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
jegrandiraisI would grow
tugrandiraisyou would grow
il/ellegrandiraithe/she/it would grow
nousgrandirionswe would grow
vousgrandiriezyou (pl.) would grow
ils/ellesgrandiraientthey would grow

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
jegrandiraiI will grow
tugrandirasyou will grow
il/ellegrandirahe/she/it will grow
nousgrandironswe will grow
vousgrandirezyou (pl.) will grow
ils/ellesgrandirontthey will grow

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 grandiI have grown
tutu as grandiyou have grown
il/elleil/elle a grandihe/she/it has grown
nousnous avons grandiwe have grown
vousvous avez grandiyou (pl.) have grown
ils/ellesils/elles ont grandithey have grown

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 grandiI had grown
tutu avais grandiyou had grown
il/elleil/elle avait grandihe/she/it had grown
nousnous avions grandiwe had grown
vousvous aviez grandiyou (pl.) had grown
ils/ellesils/elles avaient grandithey had grown

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

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 grandiI will have grown
tutu auras grandiyou will have grown
il/elleil/elle aura grandihe/she/it will have grown
nousnous aurons grandiwe will have grown
vousvous aurez grandiyou (pl.) will have grown
ils/ellesils/elles auront grandithey will have grown

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
jegrandisse
tugrandisses
il/ellegrandisse
nousgrandissions
vousgrandissiez
ils/ellesgrandissent

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
jegrandisse
tugrandisses
il/ellegrandît
nousgrandissions
vousgrandissiez
ils/ellesgrandissent

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
tugrandis
nousgrandissons
vousgrandissez