inspirer — French conjugation

to inspire

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
jeinspireI inspire
tuinspiresyou inspire
il/elleinspirehe/she/it inspires
nousinspironswe inspire
vousinspirezyou (pl.) inspire
ils/ellesinspirentthey inspire

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
jeinspiraiI inspired
tuinspirasyou inspired
il/elleinspirahe/she/it inspired
nousinspirâmeswe inspired
vousinspirâtesyou (pl.) inspired
ils/ellesinspirèrentthey inspired

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
jeinspirais
tuinspirais
il/elleinspirait
nousinspirions
vousinspiriez
ils/ellesinspiraient

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
jeinspireraisI would inspire
tuinspireraisyou would inspire
il/elleinspireraithe/she/it would inspire
nousinspirerionswe would inspire
vousinspireriezyou (pl.) would inspire
ils/ellesinspireraientthey would inspire

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
jeinspireraiI will inspire
tuinspirerasyou will inspire
il/elleinspirerahe/she/it will inspire
nousinspireronswe will inspire
vousinspirerezyou (pl.) will inspire
ils/ellesinspirerontthey will inspire

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 inspiréI have inspired
tutu as inspiréyou have inspired
il/elleil/elle a inspiréhe/she/it has inspired
nousnous avons inspiréwe have inspired
vousvous avez inspiréyou (pl.) have inspired
ils/ellesils/elles ont inspiréthey have inspired

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 inspiréI had inspired
tutu avais inspiréyou had inspired
il/elleil/elle avait inspiréhe/she/it had inspired
nousnous avions inspiréwe had inspired
vousvous aviez inspiréyou (pl.) had inspired
ils/ellesils/elles avaient inspiréthey had inspired

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

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 inspiréI will have inspired
tutu auras inspiréyou will have inspired
il/elleil/elle aura inspiréhe/she/it will have inspired
nousnous aurons inspiréwe will have inspired
vousvous aurez inspiréyou (pl.) will have inspired
ils/ellesils/elles auront inspiréthey will have inspired

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
jeinspire
tuinspires
il/elleinspire
nousinspirions
vousinspiriez
ils/ellesinspirent

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
jeinspirasse
tuinspirasses
il/elleinspirât
nousinspirassions
vousinspirassiez
ils/ellesinspirassent

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
tuinspire
nousinspirons
vousinspirez