intéresser — French conjugation

to interest

Frequency#136RegularReflexives'intéresser — to take an interest in

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
jeintéresseI interest
tuintéressesyou interest
il/elleintéressehe/she/it interests
nousintéressonswe interest
vousintéressezyou (pl.) interest
ils/ellesintéressentthey interest

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
jeintéressaiI interested
tuintéressasyou interested
il/elleintéressahe/she/it interested
nousintéressâmeswe interested
vousintéressâtesyou (pl.) interested
ils/ellesintéressèrentthey interested

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
jeintéressais
tuintéressais
il/elleintéressait
nousintéressions
vousintéressiez
ils/ellesintéressaient

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
jeintéresseraisI would interest
tuintéresseraisyou would interest
il/elleintéresseraithe/she/it would interest
nousintéresserionswe would interest
vousintéresseriezyou (pl.) would interest
ils/ellesintéresseraientthey would interest

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
jeintéresseraiI will interest
tuintéresserasyou will interest
il/elleintéresserahe/she/it will interest
nousintéresseronswe will interest
vousintéresserezyou (pl.) will interest
ils/ellesintéresserontthey will interest

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 intéresséI have interested
tutu as intéresséyou have interested
il/elleil/elle a intéresséhe/she/it has interested
nousnous avons intéresséwe have interested
vousvous avez intéresséyou (pl.) have interested
ils/ellesils/elles ont intéresséthey have interested

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 intéresséI had interested
tutu avais intéresséyou had interested
il/elleil/elle avait intéresséhe/she/it had interested
nousnous avions intéresséwe had interested
vousvous aviez intéresséyou (pl.) had interested
ils/ellesils/elles avaient intéresséthey had interested

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

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 intéresséI will have interested
tutu auras intéresséyou will have interested
il/elleil/elle aura intéresséhe/she/it will have interested
nousnous aurons intéresséwe will have interested
vousvous aurez intéresséyou (pl.) will have interested
ils/ellesils/elles auront intéresséthey will have interested

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
jeintéresse
tuintéresses
il/elleintéresse
nousintéressions
vousintéressiez
ils/ellesintéressent

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
jeintéressasse
tuintéressasses
il/elleintéressât
nousintéressassions
vousintéressassiez
ils/ellesintéressassent

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
tuintéresse
nousintéressons
vousintéressez