neiger — French conjugation

to snow

Frequency#681Irregular

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.

PronounFrenchEnglish
jeneigeI snow
tuneigesyou snow
il/elleneigehe/she/it snows
nousneigeonswe snow
vousneigezyou (pl.) snow
ils/ellesneigentthey snow

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.

PronounFrenchEnglish
jeneigeaiI snowed
tuneigeasyou snowed
il/elleneigeahe/she/it snowed
nousneigeâmeswe snowed
vousneigeâtesyou (pl.) snowed
ils/ellesneigèrentthey snowed

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.

PronounFrench
jeneigeais
tuneigeais
il/elleneigeait
nousneigions
vousneigiez
ils/ellesneigeaient

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
jeneigeraisI would snow
tuneigeraisyou would snow
il/elleneigeraithe/she/it would snow
nousneigerionswe would snow
vousneigeriezyou (pl.) would snow
ils/ellesneigeraientthey would snow

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
jeneigeraiI will snow
tuneigerasyou will snow
il/elleneigerahe/she/it will snow
nousneigeronswe will snow
vousneigerezyou (pl.) will snow
ils/ellesneigerontthey will snow

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 neigéI have snowed
tutu as neigéyou have snowed
il/elleil/elle a neigéhe/she/it has snowed
nousnous avons neigéwe have snowed
vousvous avez neigéyou (pl.) have snowed
ils/ellesils/elles ont neigéthey have snowed

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 neigéI had snowed
tutu avais neigéyou had snowed
il/elleil/elle avait neigéhe/she/it had snowed
nousnous avions neigéwe had snowed
vousvous aviez neigéyou (pl.) had snowed
ils/ellesils/elles avaient neigéthey had snowed

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

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 neigéI will have snowed
tutu auras neigéyou will have snowed
il/elleil/elle aura neigéhe/she/it will have snowed
nousnous aurons neigéwe will have snowed
vousvous aurez neigéyou (pl.) will have snowed
ils/ellesils/elles auront neigéthey will have snowed

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
jeneige
tuneiges
il/elleneige
nousneigions
vousneigiez
ils/ellesneigent

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
jeneigeasse
tuneigeasses
il/elleneigeât
nousneigeassions
vousneigeassiez
ils/ellesneigeassent

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
tuneige
nousneigeons
vousneigez