investir — French conjugation

to invest

Frequency#640Regular

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
jeinvestisI invest
tuinvestisyou invest
il/elleinvestithe/she/it invests
nousinvestissonswe invest
vousinvestissezyou (pl.) invest
ils/ellesinvestissentthey invest

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
jeinvestisI invested
tuinvestisyou invested
il/elleinvestithe/she/it invested
nousinvestîmeswe invested
vousinvestîtesyou (pl.) invested
ils/ellesinvestirentthey invested

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
jeinvestissais
tuinvestissais
il/elleinvestissait
nousinvestissions
vousinvestissiez
ils/ellesinvestissaient

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
jeinvestiraisI would invest
tuinvestiraisyou would invest
il/elleinvestiraithe/she/it would invest
nousinvestirionswe would invest
vousinvestiriezyou (pl.) would invest
ils/ellesinvestiraientthey would invest

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
jeinvestiraiI will invest
tuinvestirasyou will invest
il/elleinvestirahe/she/it will invest
nousinvestironswe will invest
vousinvestirezyou (pl.) will invest
ils/ellesinvestirontthey will invest

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 investiI have invested
tutu as investiyou have invested
il/elleil/elle a investihe/she/it has invested
nousnous avons investiwe have invested
vousvous avez investiyou (pl.) have invested
ils/ellesils/elles ont investithey have invested

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 investiI had invested
tutu avais investiyou had invested
il/elleil/elle avait investihe/she/it had invested
nousnous avions investiwe had invested
vousvous aviez investiyou (pl.) had invested
ils/ellesils/elles avaient investithey had invested

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

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 investiI will have invested
tutu auras investiyou will have invested
il/elleil/elle aura investihe/she/it will have invested
nousnous aurons investiwe will have invested
vousvous aurez investiyou (pl.) will have invested
ils/ellesils/elles auront investithey will have invested

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
jeinvestisse
tuinvestisses
il/elleinvestisse
nousinvestissions
vousinvestissiez
ils/ellesinvestissent

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
jeinvestisse
tuinvestisses
il/elleinvestît
nousinvestissions
vousinvestissiez
ils/ellesinvestissent

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
tuinvestis
nousinvestissons
vousinvestissez