longer — French conjugation

to lengthen

Frequency#894Irregular

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
jelongeI lengthen
tulongesyou lengthen
il/ellelongehe/she/it lengthens
nouslongeonswe lengthen
vouslongezyou (pl.) lengthen
ils/elleslongentthey lengthen

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
jelongeaiI lengthened
tulongeasyou lengthened
il/ellelongeahe/she/it lengthened
nouslongeâmeswe lengthened
vouslongeâtesyou (pl.) lengthened
ils/elleslongèrentthey lengthened

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
jelongeais
tulongeais
il/ellelongeait
nouslongions
vouslongiez
ils/elleslongeaient

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
jelongeraisI would lengthen
tulongeraisyou would lengthen
il/ellelongeraithe/she/it would lengthen
nouslongerionswe would lengthen
vouslongeriezyou (pl.) would lengthen
ils/elleslongeraientthey would lengthen

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
jelongeraiI will lengthen
tulongerasyou will lengthen
il/ellelongerahe/she/it will lengthen
nouslongeronswe will lengthen
vouslongerezyou (pl.) will lengthen
ils/elleslongerontthey will lengthen

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 longéI have lengthened
tutu as longéyou have lengthened
il/elleil/elle a longéhe/she/it has lengthened
nousnous avons longéwe have lengthened
vousvous avez longéyou (pl.) have lengthened
ils/ellesils/elles ont longéthey have lengthened

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 longéI had lengthened
tutu avais longéyou had lengthened
il/elleil/elle avait longéhe/she/it had lengthened
nousnous avions longéwe had lengthened
vousvous aviez longéyou (pl.) had lengthened
ils/ellesils/elles avaient longéthey had lengthened

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

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 longéI will have lengthened
tutu auras longéyou will have lengthened
il/elleil/elle aura longéhe/she/it will have lengthened
nousnous aurons longéwe will have lengthened
vousvous aurez longéyou (pl.) will have lengthened
ils/ellesils/elles auront longéthey will have lengthened

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
jelonge
tulonges
il/ellelonge
nouslongions
vouslongiez
ils/elleslongent

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
jelongeasse
tulongeasses
il/ellelongeât
nouslongeassions
vouslongeassiez
ils/elleslongeassent

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
tulonge
nouslongeons
vouslongez