limiter — French conjugation

to limit

Frequency#268Regular

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
jelimiteI limit
tulimitesyou limit
il/ellelimitehe/she/it limits
nouslimitonswe limit
vouslimitezyou (pl.) limit
ils/elleslimitentthey limit

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
jelimitaiI limited
tulimitasyou limited
il/ellelimitahe/she/it limited
nouslimitâmeswe limited
vouslimitâtesyou (pl.) limited
ils/elleslimitèrentthey limited

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
jelimitais
tulimitais
il/ellelimitait
nouslimitions
vouslimitiez
ils/elleslimitaient

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
jelimiteraisI would limit
tulimiteraisyou would limit
il/ellelimiteraithe/she/it would limit
nouslimiterionswe would limit
vouslimiteriezyou (pl.) would limit
ils/elleslimiteraientthey would limit

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
jelimiteraiI will limit
tulimiterasyou will limit
il/ellelimiterahe/she/it will limit
nouslimiteronswe will limit
vouslimiterezyou (pl.) will limit
ils/elleslimiterontthey will limit

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 limitéI have limited
tutu as limitéyou have limited
il/elleil/elle a limitéhe/she/it has limited
nousnous avons limitéwe have limited
vousvous avez limitéyou (pl.) have limited
ils/ellesils/elles ont limitéthey have limited

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 limitéI had limited
tutu avais limitéyou had limited
il/elleil/elle avait limitéhe/she/it had limited
nousnous avions limitéwe had limited
vousvous aviez limitéyou (pl.) had limited
ils/ellesils/elles avaient limitéthey had limited

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

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 limitéI will have limited
tutu auras limitéyou will have limited
il/elleil/elle aura limitéhe/she/it will have limited
nousnous aurons limitéwe will have limited
vousvous aurez limitéyou (pl.) will have limited
ils/ellesils/elles auront limitéthey will have limited

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
jelimite
tulimites
il/ellelimite
nouslimitions
vouslimitiez
ils/elleslimitent

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
jelimitasse
tulimitasses
il/ellelimitât
nouslimitassions
vouslimitassiez
ils/elleslimitassent

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
tulimite
nouslimitons
vouslimitez