incarner — French conjugation

to embody

Frequency#1232Regular

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
jeincarneI embody
tuincarnesyou embody
il/elleincarnehe/she/it embodies
nousincarnonswe embody
vousincarnezyou (pl.) embody
ils/ellesincarnentthey embody

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
jeincarnaiI embodied
tuincarnasyou embodied
il/elleincarnahe/she/it embodied
nousincarnâmeswe embodied
vousincarnâtesyou (pl.) embodied
ils/ellesincarnèrentthey embodied

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
jeincarnais
tuincarnais
il/elleincarnait
nousincarnions
vousincarniez
ils/ellesincarnaient

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
jeincarneraisI would embody
tuincarneraisyou would embody
il/elleincarneraithe/she/it would embody
nousincarnerionswe would embody
vousincarneriezyou (pl.) would embody
ils/ellesincarneraientthey would embody

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
jeincarneraiI will embody
tuincarnerasyou will embody
il/elleincarnerahe/she/it will embody
nousincarneronswe will embody
vousincarnerezyou (pl.) will embody
ils/ellesincarnerontthey will embody

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 incarnéI have embodied
tutu as incarnéyou have embodied
il/elleil/elle a incarnéhe/she/it has embodied
nousnous avons incarnéwe have embodied
vousvous avez incarnéyou (pl.) have embodied
ils/ellesils/elles ont incarnéthey have embodied

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 incarnéI had embodied
tutu avais incarnéyou had embodied
il/elleil/elle avait incarnéhe/she/it had embodied
nousnous avions incarnéwe had embodied
vousvous aviez incarnéyou (pl.) had embodied
ils/ellesils/elles avaient incarnéthey had embodied

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

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 incarnéI will have embodied
tutu auras incarnéyou will have embodied
il/elleil/elle aura incarnéhe/she/it will have embodied
nousnous aurons incarnéwe will have embodied
vousvous aurez incarnéyou (pl.) will have embodied
ils/ellesils/elles auront incarnéthey will have embodied

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
jeincarne
tuincarnes
il/elleincarne
nousincarnions
vousincarniez
ils/ellesincarnent

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
jeincarnasse
tuincarnasses
il/elleincarnât
nousincarnassions
vousincarnassiez
ils/ellesincarnassent

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
tuincarne
nousincarnons
vousincarnez