ménager — French conjugation
to manage
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.
| Pronoun | French | English |
|---|---|---|
| je | ménage | I manage |
| tu | ménages | you manage |
| il/elle | ménage | he/she/it manages |
| nous | ménageons | we manage |
| vous | ménagez | you (pl.) manage |
| ils/elles | ménagent | they manage |
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.
| Pronoun | French | English |
|---|---|---|
| je | ménageai | I managed |
| tu | ménageas | you managed |
| il/elle | ménagea | he/she/it managed |
| nous | ménageâmes | we managed |
| vous | ménageâtes | you (pl.) managed |
| ils/elles | ménagèrent | they managed |
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.
| Pronoun | French |
|---|---|
| je | ménageais |
| tu | ménageais |
| il/elle | ménageait |
| nous | ménagions |
| vous | ménagiez |
| ils/elles | ménageaient |
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 ?
| Pronoun | French | English |
|---|---|---|
| je | ménagerais | I would manage |
| tu | ménagerais | you would manage |
| il/elle | ménagerait | he/she/it would manage |
| nous | ménagerions | we would manage |
| vous | ménageriez | you (pl.) would manage |
| ils/elles | ménageraient | they would manage |
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.
| Pronoun | French | English |
|---|---|---|
| je | ménagerai | I will manage |
| tu | ménageras | you will manage |
| il/elle | ménagera | he/she/it will manage |
| nous | ménagerons | we will manage |
| vous | ménagerez | you (pl.) will manage |
| ils/elles | ménageront | they will manage |
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.
| Pronoun | French | English |
|---|---|---|
| je | j'ai ménagé | I have managed |
| tu | tu as ménagé | you have managed |
| il/elle | il/elle a ménagé | he/she/it has managed |
| nous | nous avons ménagé | we have managed |
| vous | vous avez ménagé | you (pl.) have managed |
| ils/elles | ils/elles ont ménagé | they have managed |
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.
| Pronoun | French | English |
|---|---|---|
| je | j'avais ménagé | I had managed |
| tu | tu avais ménagé | you had managed |
| il/elle | il/elle avait ménagé | he/she/it had managed |
| nous | nous avions ménagé | we had managed |
| vous | vous aviez ménagé | you (pl.) had managed |
| ils/elles | ils/elles avaient ménagé | they had managed |
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.
| Pronoun | French |
|---|---|
| je | j'aurais ménagé |
| tu | tu aurais ménagé |
| il/elle | il/elle aurait ménagé |
| nous | nous aurions ménagé |
| vous | vous auriez ménagé |
| ils/elles | ils/elles auraient ménagé |
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.
| Pronoun | French | English |
|---|---|---|
| je | j'aurai ménagé | I will have managed |
| tu | tu auras ménagé | you will have managed |
| il/elle | il/elle aura ménagé | he/she/it will have managed |
| nous | nous aurons ménagé | we will have managed |
| vous | vous aurez ménagé | you (pl.) will have managed |
| ils/elles | ils/elles auront ménagé | they will have managed |
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.
| Pronoun | French |
|---|---|
| je | ménage |
| tu | ménages |
| il/elle | ménage |
| nous | ménagions |
| vous | ménagiez |
| ils/elles | ménagent |
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.
| Pronoun | French |
|---|---|
| je | ménageasse |
| tu | ménageasses |
| il/elle | ménageât |
| nous | ménageassions |
| vous | ménageassiez |
| ils/elles | ménageassent |
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 !
| Pronoun | French |
|---|---|
| tu | ménage |
| nous | ménageons |
| vous | ménagez |