muser — French conjugation

to dawdle

Frequency#1243Regular

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
jemuseI dawdle
tumusesyou dawdle
il/ellemusehe/she/it dawdles
nousmusonswe dawdle
vousmusezyou (pl.) dawdle
ils/ellesmusentthey dawdle

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
jemusaiI dawdled
tumusasyou dawdled
il/ellemusahe/she/it dawdled
nousmusâmeswe dawdled
vousmusâtesyou (pl.) dawdled
ils/ellesmusèrentthey dawdled

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
jemusais
tumusais
il/ellemusait
nousmusions
vousmusiez
ils/ellesmusaient

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
jemuseraisI would dawdle
tumuseraisyou would dawdle
il/ellemuseraithe/she/it would dawdle
nousmuserionswe would dawdle
vousmuseriezyou (pl.) would dawdle
ils/ellesmuseraientthey would dawdle

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
jemuseraiI will dawdle
tumuserasyou will dawdle
il/ellemuserahe/she/it will dawdle
nousmuseronswe will dawdle
vousmuserezyou (pl.) will dawdle
ils/ellesmuserontthey will dawdle

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 muséI have dawdled
tutu as muséyou have dawdled
il/elleil/elle a muséhe/she/it has dawdled
nousnous avons muséwe have dawdled
vousvous avez muséyou (pl.) have dawdled
ils/ellesils/elles ont muséthey have dawdled

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 muséI had dawdled
tutu avais muséyou had dawdled
il/elleil/elle avait muséhe/she/it had dawdled
nousnous avions muséwe had dawdled
vousvous aviez muséyou (pl.) had dawdled
ils/ellesils/elles avaient muséthey had dawdled

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

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 muséI will have dawdled
tutu auras muséyou will have dawdled
il/elleil/elle aura muséhe/she/it will have dawdled
nousnous aurons muséwe will have dawdled
vousvous aurez muséyou (pl.) will have dawdled
ils/ellesils/elles auront muséthey will have dawdled

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
jemuse
tumuses
il/ellemuse
nousmusions
vousmusiez
ils/ellesmusent

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
jemusasse
tumusasses
il/ellemusât
nousmusassions
vousmusassiez
ils/ellesmusassent

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
tumuse
nousmusons
vousmusez