innover — French conjugation

to innovate

Frequency#960Regular

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
jeinnoveI innovate
tuinnovesyou innovate
il/elleinnovehe/she/it innovates
nousinnovonswe innovate
vousinnovezyou (pl.) innovate
ils/ellesinnoventthey innovate

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
jeinnovaiI innovated
tuinnovasyou innovated
il/elleinnovahe/she/it innovated
nousinnovâmeswe innovated
vousinnovâtesyou (pl.) innovated
ils/ellesinnovèrentthey innovated

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
jeinnovais
tuinnovais
il/elleinnovait
nousinnovions
vousinnoviez
ils/ellesinnovaient

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
jeinnoveraisI would innovate
tuinnoveraisyou would innovate
il/elleinnoveraithe/she/it would innovate
nousinnoverionswe would innovate
vousinnoveriezyou (pl.) would innovate
ils/ellesinnoveraientthey would innovate

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
jeinnoveraiI will innovate
tuinnoverasyou will innovate
il/elleinnoverahe/she/it will innovate
nousinnoveronswe will innovate
vousinnoverezyou (pl.) will innovate
ils/ellesinnoverontthey will innovate

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 innovéI have innovated
tutu as innovéyou have innovated
il/elleil/elle a innovéhe/she/it has innovated
nousnous avons innovéwe have innovated
vousvous avez innovéyou (pl.) have innovated
ils/ellesils/elles ont innovéthey have innovated

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 innovéI had innovated
tutu avais innovéyou had innovated
il/elleil/elle avait innovéhe/she/it had innovated
nousnous avions innovéwe had innovated
vousvous aviez innovéyou (pl.) had innovated
ils/ellesils/elles avaient innovéthey had innovated

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

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 innovéI will have innovated
tutu auras innovéyou will have innovated
il/elleil/elle aura innovéhe/she/it will have innovated
nousnous aurons innovéwe will have innovated
vousvous aurez innovéyou (pl.) will have innovated
ils/ellesils/elles auront innovéthey will have innovated

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
jeinnove
tuinnoves
il/elleinnove
nousinnovions
vousinnoviez
ils/ellesinnovent

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
jeinnovasse
tuinnovasses
il/elleinnovât
nousinnovassions
vousinnovassiez
ils/ellesinnovassent

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
tuinnove
nousinnovons
vousinnovez