noircir — French conjugation

to darken

Frequency#373Regular

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
jenoircisI darken
tunoircisyou darken
il/ellenoircithe/she/it darkens
nousnoircissonswe darken
vousnoircissezyou (pl.) darken
ils/ellesnoircissentthey darken

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
jenoircisI darkened
tunoircisyou darkened
il/ellenoircithe/she/it darkened
nousnoircîmeswe darkened
vousnoircîtesyou (pl.) darkened
ils/ellesnoircirentthey darkened

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
jenoircissais
tunoircissais
il/ellenoircissait
nousnoircissions
vousnoircissiez
ils/ellesnoircissaient

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
jenoirciraisI would darken
tunoirciraisyou would darken
il/ellenoirciraithe/she/it would darken
nousnoircirionswe would darken
vousnoirciriezyou (pl.) would darken
ils/ellesnoirciraientthey would darken

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
jenoirciraiI will darken
tunoircirasyou will darken
il/ellenoircirahe/she/it will darken
nousnoircironswe will darken
vousnoircirezyou (pl.) will darken
ils/ellesnoircirontthey will darken

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 noirciI have darkened
tutu as noirciyou have darkened
il/elleil/elle a noircihe/she/it has darkened
nousnous avons noirciwe have darkened
vousvous avez noirciyou (pl.) have darkened
ils/ellesils/elles ont noircithey have darkened

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 noirciI had darkened
tutu avais noirciyou had darkened
il/elleil/elle avait noircihe/she/it had darkened
nousnous avions noirciwe had darkened
vousvous aviez noirciyou (pl.) had darkened
ils/ellesils/elles avaient noircithey had darkened

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

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 noirciI will have darkened
tutu auras noirciyou will have darkened
il/elleil/elle aura noircihe/she/it will have darkened
nousnous aurons noirciwe will have darkened
vousvous aurez noirciyou (pl.) will have darkened
ils/ellesils/elles auront noircithey will have darkened

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
jenoircisse
tunoircisses
il/ellenoircisse
nousnoircissions
vousnoircissiez
ils/ellesnoircissent

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
jenoircisse
tunoircisses
il/ellenoircît
nousnoircissions
vousnoircissiez
ils/ellesnoircissent

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
tunoircis
nousnoircissons
vousnoircissez