miauler — French conjugation

to meow

Frequency#266Regular

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
jemiauleI meow
tumiaulesyou meow
il/ellemiaulehe/she/it meows
nousmiaulonswe meow
vousmiaulezyou (pl.) meow
ils/ellesmiaulentthey meow

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
jemiaulaiI meowed
tumiaulasyou meowed
il/ellemiaulahe/she/it meowed
nousmiaulâmeswe meowed
vousmiaulâtesyou (pl.) meowed
ils/ellesmiaulèrentthey meowed

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
jemiaulais
tumiaulais
il/ellemiaulait
nousmiaulions
vousmiauliez
ils/ellesmiaulaient

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
jemiauleraisI would meow
tumiauleraisyou would meow
il/ellemiauleraithe/she/it would meow
nousmiaulerionswe would meow
vousmiauleriezyou (pl.) would meow
ils/ellesmiauleraientthey would meow

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
jemiauleraiI will meow
tumiaulerasyou will meow
il/ellemiaulerahe/she/it will meow
nousmiauleronswe will meow
vousmiaulerezyou (pl.) will meow
ils/ellesmiaulerontthey will meow

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 miauléI have meowed
tutu as miauléyou have meowed
il/elleil/elle a miauléhe/she/it has meowed
nousnous avons miauléwe have meowed
vousvous avez miauléyou (pl.) have meowed
ils/ellesils/elles ont miauléthey have meowed

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 miauléI had meowed
tutu avais miauléyou had meowed
il/elleil/elle avait miauléhe/she/it had meowed
nousnous avions miauléwe had meowed
vousvous aviez miauléyou (pl.) had meowed
ils/ellesils/elles avaient miauléthey had meowed

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

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 miauléI will have meowed
tutu auras miauléyou will have meowed
il/elleil/elle aura miauléhe/she/it will have meowed
nousnous aurons miauléwe will have meowed
vousvous aurez miauléyou (pl.) will have meowed
ils/ellesils/elles auront miauléthey will have meowed

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
jemiaule
tumiaules
il/ellemiaule
nousmiaulions
vousmiauliez
ils/ellesmiaulent

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
jemiaulasse
tumiaulasses
il/ellemiaulât
nousmiaulassions
vousmiaulassiez
ils/ellesmiaulassent

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
tumiaule
nousmiaulons
vousmiaulez