intervenir — French conjugation

to intervene

Frequency#1414IrregularAuxiliaryêtre

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
jeinterviensI intervene
tuinterviensyou intervene
il/elleintervienthe/she/it intervenes
nousintervenonswe intervene
vousintervenezyou (pl.) intervene
ils/ellesinterviennentthey intervene

Simple past (Passé simple) Irregular

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
jeintervinsI intervened
tuintervinsyou intervened
il/elleintervinthe/she/it intervened
nousintervînmeswe intervened
vousintervîntesyou (pl.) intervened
ils/ellesintervinrentthey intervened

Imperfect (Imparfait) Irregular

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
jeintervenais
tuintervenais
il/elleintervenait
nousintervenions
vousinterveniez
ils/ellesintervenaient

Conditional (Conditionnel) Irregular

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
jeinterviendraisI would intervene
tuinterviendraisyou would intervene
il/elleinterviendraithe/she/it would intervene
nousinterviendrionswe would intervene
vousinterviendriezyou (pl.) would intervene
ils/ellesinterviendraientthey would intervene

Future (Futur) Irregular

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
jeinterviendraiI will intervene
tuinterviendrasyou will intervene
il/elleinterviendrahe/she/it will intervene
nousinterviendronswe will intervene
vousinterviendrezyou (pl.) will intervene
ils/ellesinterviendrontthey will intervene

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
jeje suis intervenu(e)I have intervened
tutu es intervenu(e)you have intervened
il/elleil/elle est intervenu(e)he/she/it has intervened
nousnous sommes intervenu(e)swe have intervened
vousvous êtes intervenu(e)(s)you (pl.) have intervened
ils/ellesils/elles sont intervenu(e)sthey have intervened

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'étais intervenu(e)I had intervened
tutu étais intervenu(e)you had intervened
il/elleil/elle était intervenu(e)he/she/it had intervened
nousnous étions intervenu(e)swe had intervened
vousvous étiez intervenu(e)(s)you (pl.) had intervened
ils/ellesils/elles étaient intervenu(e)sthey had intervened

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
jeje serais intervenu(e)
tutu serais intervenu(e)
il/elleil/elle serait intervenu(e)
nousnous serions intervenu(e)s
vousvous seriez intervenu(e)(s)
ils/ellesils/elles seraient intervenu(e)s

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
jeje serai intervenu(e)I will have intervened
tutu seras intervenu(e)you will have intervened
il/elleil/elle sera intervenu(e)he/she/it will have intervened
nousnous serons intervenu(e)swe will have intervened
vousvous serez intervenu(e)(s)you (pl.) will have intervened
ils/ellesils/elles seront intervenu(e)sthey will have intervened

Subjunctive

Present subjunctive (Subjonctif présent) Irregular

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
jeintervienne
tuinterviennes
il/elleintervienne
nousintervenions
vousinterveniez
ils/ellesinterviennent

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
jeintervinsse
tuintervinsses
il/elleintervînt
nousintervinssions
vousintervinssiez
ils/ellesintervinssent

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
tuinterviens
nousintervenons
vousintervenez