méditer — French conjugation

to meditate

Frequency#542Regular

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
jeméditeI meditate
tuméditesyou meditate
il/elleméditehe/she/it meditates
nousméditonswe meditate
vousméditezyou (pl.) meditate
ils/ellesméditentthey meditate

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
jeméditaiI meditated
tuméditasyou meditated
il/elleméditahe/she/it meditated
nousméditâmeswe meditated
vousméditâtesyou (pl.) meditated
ils/ellesméditèrentthey meditated

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
jeméditais
tuméditais
il/elleméditait
nousméditions
vousméditiez
ils/ellesméditaient

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
jeméditeraisI would meditate
tuméditeraisyou would meditate
il/elleméditeraithe/she/it would meditate
nousméditerionswe would meditate
vousméditeriezyou (pl.) would meditate
ils/ellesméditeraientthey would meditate

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
jeméditeraiI will meditate
tuméditerasyou will meditate
il/elleméditerahe/she/it will meditate
nousméditeronswe will meditate
vousméditerezyou (pl.) will meditate
ils/ellesméditerontthey will meditate

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 méditéI have meditated
tutu as méditéyou have meditated
il/elleil/elle a méditéhe/she/it has meditated
nousnous avons méditéwe have meditated
vousvous avez méditéyou (pl.) have meditated
ils/ellesils/elles ont méditéthey have meditated

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 méditéI had meditated
tutu avais méditéyou had meditated
il/elleil/elle avait méditéhe/she/it had meditated
nousnous avions méditéwe had meditated
vousvous aviez méditéyou (pl.) had meditated
ils/ellesils/elles avaient méditéthey had meditated

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

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 méditéI will have meditated
tutu auras méditéyou will have meditated
il/elleil/elle aura méditéhe/she/it will have meditated
nousnous aurons méditéwe will have meditated
vousvous aurez méditéyou (pl.) will have meditated
ils/ellesils/elles auront méditéthey will have meditated

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
jemédite
tumédites
il/ellemédite
nousméditions
vousméditiez
ils/ellesméditent

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
jeméditasse
tuméditasses
il/elleméditât
nousméditassions
vousméditassiez
ils/ellesméditassent

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
tumédite
nousméditons
vousméditez