jurer — French conjugation

to swear

Frequency#427RegularReflexivese jurer — to swear to oneself

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
jejureI swear
tujuresyou swear
il/ellejurehe/she/it swears
nousjuronswe swear
vousjurezyou (pl.) swear
ils/ellesjurentthey swear

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
jejuraiI swore
tujurasyou swore
il/ellejurahe/she/it swore
nousjurâmeswe swore
vousjurâtesyou (pl.) swore
ils/ellesjurèrentthey swore

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
jejurais
tujurais
il/ellejurait
nousjurions
vousjuriez
ils/ellesjuraient

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
jejureraisI would swear
tujureraisyou would swear
il/ellejureraithe/she/it would swear
nousjurerionswe would swear
vousjureriezyou (pl.) would swear
ils/ellesjureraientthey would swear

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
jejureraiI will swear
tujurerasyou will swear
il/ellejurerahe/she/it will swear
nousjureronswe will swear
vousjurerezyou (pl.) will swear
ils/ellesjurerontthey will swear

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 juréI have sworn
tutu as juréyou have sworn
il/elleil/elle a juréhe/she/it has sworn
nousnous avons juréwe have sworn
vousvous avez juréyou (pl.) have sworn
ils/ellesils/elles ont juréthey have sworn

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 juréI had sworn
tutu avais juréyou had sworn
il/elleil/elle avait juréhe/she/it had sworn
nousnous avions juréwe had sworn
vousvous aviez juréyou (pl.) had sworn
ils/ellesils/elles avaient juréthey had sworn

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

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 juréI will have sworn
tutu auras juréyou will have sworn
il/elleil/elle aura juréhe/she/it will have sworn
nousnous aurons juréwe will have sworn
vousvous aurez juréyou (pl.) will have sworn
ils/ellesils/elles auront juréthey will have sworn

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
jejure
tujures
il/ellejure
nousjurions
vousjuriez
ils/ellesjurent

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
jejurasse
tujurasses
il/ellejurât
nousjurassions
vousjurassiez
ils/ellesjurassent

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
tujure
nousjurons
vousjurez