habiller — French conjugation

to dress

Frequency#123RegularReflexives'habiller — to get dressed

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
jehabilleI dress
tuhabillesyou dress
il/ellehabillehe/she/it dresses
noushabillonswe dress
voushabillezyou (pl.) dress
ils/elleshabillentthey dress

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
jehabillaiI dressed
tuhabillasyou dressed
il/ellehabillahe/she/it dressed
noushabillâmeswe dressed
voushabillâtesyou (pl.) dressed
ils/elleshabillèrentthey dressed

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
jehabillais
tuhabillais
il/ellehabillait
noushabillions
voushabilliez
ils/elleshabillaient

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
jehabilleraisI would dress
tuhabilleraisyou would dress
il/ellehabilleraithe/she/it would dress
noushabillerionswe would dress
voushabilleriezyou (pl.) would dress
ils/elleshabilleraientthey would dress

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
jehabilleraiI will dress
tuhabillerasyou will dress
il/ellehabillerahe/she/it will dress
noushabilleronswe will dress
voushabillerezyou (pl.) will dress
ils/elleshabillerontthey will dress

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 habilléI have dressed
tutu as habilléyou have dressed
il/elleil/elle a habilléhe/she/it has dressed
nousnous avons habilléwe have dressed
vousvous avez habilléyou (pl.) have dressed
ils/ellesils/elles ont habilléthey have dressed

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 habilléI had dressed
tutu avais habilléyou had dressed
il/elleil/elle avait habilléhe/she/it had dressed
nousnous avions habilléwe had dressed
vousvous aviez habilléyou (pl.) had dressed
ils/ellesils/elles avaient habilléthey had dressed

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

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 habilléI will have dressed
tutu auras habilléyou will have dressed
il/elleil/elle aura habilléhe/she/it will have dressed
nousnous aurons habilléwe will have dressed
vousvous aurez habilléyou (pl.) will have dressed
ils/ellesils/elles auront habilléthey will have dressed

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
jehabille
tuhabilles
il/ellehabille
noushabillions
voushabilliez
ils/elleshabillent

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
jehabillasse
tuhabillasses
il/ellehabillât
noushabillassions
voushabillassiez
ils/elleshabillassent

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
tuhabille
noushabillons
voushabillez