gravir — French conjugation

to climb

Frequency#63Regular

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
jegravisI climb
tugravisyou climb
il/ellegravithe/she/it climbs
nousgravissonswe climb
vousgravissezyou (pl.) climb
ils/ellesgravissentthey climb

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
jegravisI climbed
tugravisyou climbed
il/ellegravithe/she/it climbed
nousgravîmeswe climbed
vousgravîtesyou (pl.) climbed
ils/ellesgravirentthey climbed

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
jegravissais
tugravissais
il/ellegravissait
nousgravissions
vousgravissiez
ils/ellesgravissaient

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
jegraviraisI would climb
tugraviraisyou would climb
il/ellegraviraithe/she/it would climb
nousgravirionswe would climb
vousgraviriezyou (pl.) would climb
ils/ellesgraviraientthey would climb

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
jegraviraiI will climb
tugravirasyou will climb
il/ellegravirahe/she/it will climb
nousgravironswe will climb
vousgravirezyou (pl.) will climb
ils/ellesgravirontthey will climb

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 graviI have climbed
tutu as graviyou have climbed
il/elleil/elle a gravihe/she/it has climbed
nousnous avons graviwe have climbed
vousvous avez graviyou (pl.) have climbed
ils/ellesils/elles ont gravithey have climbed

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 graviI had climbed
tutu avais graviyou had climbed
il/elleil/elle avait gravihe/she/it had climbed
nousnous avions graviwe had climbed
vousvous aviez graviyou (pl.) had climbed
ils/ellesils/elles avaient gravithey had climbed

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

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 graviI will have climbed
tutu auras graviyou will have climbed
il/elleil/elle aura gravihe/she/it will have climbed
nousnous aurons graviwe will have climbed
vousvous aurez graviyou (pl.) will have climbed
ils/ellesils/elles auront gravithey will have climbed

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
jegravisse
tugravisses
il/ellegravisse
nousgravissions
vousgravissiez
ils/ellesgravissent

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
jegravisse
tugravisses
il/ellegravît
nousgravissions
vousgravissiez
ils/ellesgravissent

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
tugravis
nousgravissons
vousgravissez