incliner — French conjugation

to incline

Frequency#543RegularReflexives'incliner — to bow; to admit defeat

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
jeinclineI incline
tuinclinesyou incline
il/elleinclinehe/she/it inclines
nousinclinonswe incline
vousinclinezyou (pl.) incline
ils/ellesinclinentthey incline

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
jeinclinaiI inclined
tuinclinasyou inclined
il/elleinclinahe/she/it inclined
nousinclinâmeswe inclined
vousinclinâtesyou (pl.) inclined
ils/ellesinclinèrentthey inclined

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
jeinclinais
tuinclinais
il/elleinclinait
nousinclinions
vousincliniez
ils/ellesinclinaient

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
jeinclineraisI would incline
tuinclineraisyou would incline
il/elleinclineraithe/she/it would incline
nousinclinerionswe would incline
vousinclineriezyou (pl.) would incline
ils/ellesinclineraientthey would incline

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
jeinclineraiI will incline
tuinclinerasyou will incline
il/elleinclinerahe/she/it will incline
nousinclineronswe will incline
vousinclinerezyou (pl.) will incline
ils/ellesinclinerontthey will incline

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 inclinéI have inclined
tutu as inclinéyou have inclined
il/elleil/elle a inclinéhe/she/it has inclined
nousnous avons inclinéwe have inclined
vousvous avez inclinéyou (pl.) have inclined
ils/ellesils/elles ont inclinéthey have inclined

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 inclinéI had inclined
tutu avais inclinéyou had inclined
il/elleil/elle avait inclinéhe/she/it had inclined
nousnous avions inclinéwe had inclined
vousvous aviez inclinéyou (pl.) had inclined
ils/ellesils/elles avaient inclinéthey had inclined

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

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 inclinéI will have inclined
tutu auras inclinéyou will have inclined
il/elleil/elle aura inclinéhe/she/it will have inclined
nousnous aurons inclinéwe will have inclined
vousvous aurez inclinéyou (pl.) will have inclined
ils/ellesils/elles auront inclinéthey will have inclined

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
jeincline
tuinclines
il/elleincline
nousinclinions
vousincliniez
ils/ellesinclinent

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
jeinclinasse
tuinclinasses
il/elleinclinât
nousinclinassions
vousinclinassiez
ils/ellesinclinassent

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
tuincline
nousinclinons
vousinclinez