interrompre — French conjugation

to interrupt

Frequency#639Irregular

Indicative

Present (Présent) Irregular

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
jeinterrompsI interrupt
tuinterrompsyou interrupt
il/elleinterrompthe/she/it interrupts
nousinterromponswe interrupt
vousinterrompezyou (pl.) interrupt
ils/ellesinterrompentthey interrupt

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
jeinterrompisI interrupted
tuinterrompisyou interrupted
il/elleinterrompithe/she/it interrupted
nousinterrompîmeswe interrupted
vousinterrompîtesyou (pl.) interrupted
ils/ellesinterrompirentthey interrupted

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
jeinterrompais
tuinterrompais
il/elleinterrompait
nousinterrompions
vousinterrompiez
ils/ellesinterrompaient

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
jeinterrompraisI would interrupt
tuinterrompraisyou would interrupt
il/elleinterrompraithe/she/it would interrupt
nousinterromprionswe would interrupt
vousinterrompriezyou (pl.) would interrupt
ils/ellesinterrompraientthey would interrupt

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
jeinterrompraiI will interrupt
tuinterromprasyou will interrupt
il/elleinterromprahe/she/it will interrupt
nousinterrompronswe will interrupt
vousinterromprezyou (pl.) will interrupt
ils/ellesinterromprontthey will interrupt

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 interrompuI have interrupted
tutu as interrompuyou have interrupted
il/elleil/elle a interrompuhe/she/it has interrupted
nousnous avons interrompuwe have interrupted
vousvous avez interrompuyou (pl.) have interrupted
ils/ellesils/elles ont interromputhey have interrupted

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 interrompuI had interrupted
tutu avais interrompuyou had interrupted
il/elleil/elle avait interrompuhe/she/it had interrupted
nousnous avions interrompuwe had interrupted
vousvous aviez interrompuyou (pl.) had interrupted
ils/ellesils/elles avaient interromputhey had interrupted

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

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 interrompuI will have interrupted
tutu auras interrompuyou will have interrupted
il/elleil/elle aura interrompuhe/she/it will have interrupted
nousnous aurons interrompuwe will have interrupted
vousvous aurez interrompuyou (pl.) will have interrupted
ils/ellesils/elles auront interromputhey will have interrupted

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
jeinterrompe
tuinterrompes
il/elleinterrompe
nousinterrompions
vousinterrompiez
ils/ellesinterrompent

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
jeinterrompisse
tuinterrompisses
il/elleinterrompît
nousinterrompissions
vousinterrompissiez
ils/ellesinterrompissent

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
tuinterromps
nousinterrompons
vousinterrompez