manipuler — French conjugation

to manipulate

Frequency#643Regular

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
jemanipuleI manipulate
tumanipulesyou manipulate
il/ellemanipulehe/she/it manipulates
nousmanipulonswe manipulate
vousmanipulezyou (pl.) manipulate
ils/ellesmanipulentthey manipulate

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
jemanipulaiI manipulated
tumanipulasyou manipulated
il/ellemanipulahe/she/it manipulated
nousmanipulâmeswe manipulated
vousmanipulâtesyou (pl.) manipulated
ils/ellesmanipulèrentthey manipulated

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
jemanipulais
tumanipulais
il/ellemanipulait
nousmanipulions
vousmanipuliez
ils/ellesmanipulaient

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
jemanipuleraisI would manipulate
tumanipuleraisyou would manipulate
il/ellemanipuleraithe/she/it would manipulate
nousmanipulerionswe would manipulate
vousmanipuleriezyou (pl.) would manipulate
ils/ellesmanipuleraientthey would manipulate

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
jemanipuleraiI will manipulate
tumanipulerasyou will manipulate
il/ellemanipulerahe/she/it will manipulate
nousmanipuleronswe will manipulate
vousmanipulerezyou (pl.) will manipulate
ils/ellesmanipulerontthey will manipulate

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 manipuléI have manipulated
tutu as manipuléyou have manipulated
il/elleil/elle a manipuléhe/she/it has manipulated
nousnous avons manipuléwe have manipulated
vousvous avez manipuléyou (pl.) have manipulated
ils/ellesils/elles ont manipuléthey have manipulated

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 manipuléI had manipulated
tutu avais manipuléyou had manipulated
il/elleil/elle avait manipuléhe/she/it had manipulated
nousnous avions manipuléwe had manipulated
vousvous aviez manipuléyou (pl.) had manipulated
ils/ellesils/elles avaient manipuléthey had manipulated

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

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 manipuléI will have manipulated
tutu auras manipuléyou will have manipulated
il/elleil/elle aura manipuléhe/she/it will have manipulated
nousnous aurons manipuléwe will have manipulated
vousvous aurez manipuléyou (pl.) will have manipulated
ils/ellesils/elles auront manipuléthey will have manipulated

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
jemanipule
tumanipules
il/ellemanipule
nousmanipulions
vousmanipuliez
ils/ellesmanipulent

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
jemanipulasse
tumanipulasses
il/ellemanipulât
nousmanipulassions
vousmanipulassiez
ils/ellesmanipulassent

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
tumanipule
nousmanipulons
vousmanipulez