natter — French conjugation

to braid

Frequency#430Regular

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
jenatteI braid
tunattesyou braid
il/ellenattehe/she/it braids
nousnattonswe braid
vousnattezyou (pl.) braid
ils/ellesnattentthey braid

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
jenattaiI braided
tunattasyou braided
il/ellenattahe/she/it braided
nousnattâmeswe braided
vousnattâtesyou (pl.) braided
ils/ellesnattèrentthey braided

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
jenattais
tunattais
il/ellenattait
nousnattions
vousnattiez
ils/ellesnattaient

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
jenatteraisI would braid
tunatteraisyou would braid
il/ellenatteraithe/she/it would braid
nousnatterionswe would braid
vousnatteriezyou (pl.) would braid
ils/ellesnatteraientthey would braid

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
jenatteraiI will braid
tunatterasyou will braid
il/ellenatterahe/she/it will braid
nousnatteronswe will braid
vousnatterezyou (pl.) will braid
ils/ellesnatterontthey will braid

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 nattéI have braided
tutu as nattéyou have braided
il/elleil/elle a nattéhe/she/it has braided
nousnous avons nattéwe have braided
vousvous avez nattéyou (pl.) have braided
ils/ellesils/elles ont nattéthey have braided

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 nattéI had braided
tutu avais nattéyou had braided
il/elleil/elle avait nattéhe/she/it had braided
nousnous avions nattéwe had braided
vousvous aviez nattéyou (pl.) had braided
ils/ellesils/elles avaient nattéthey had braided

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

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 nattéI will have braided
tutu auras nattéyou will have braided
il/elleil/elle aura nattéhe/she/it will have braided
nousnous aurons nattéwe will have braided
vousvous aurez nattéyou (pl.) will have braided
ils/ellesils/elles auront nattéthey will have braided

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
jenatte
tunattes
il/ellenatte
nousnattions
vousnattiez
ils/ellesnattent

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
jenattasse
tunattasses
il/ellenattât
nousnattassions
vousnattassiez
ils/ellesnattassent

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
tunatte
nousnattons
vousnattez