nuer — French conjugation

to skin

Frequency#482Regular

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
jenueI skin
tunuesyou skin
il/ellenuehe/she/it skins
nousnuonswe skin
vousnuezyou (pl.) skin
ils/ellesnuentthey skin

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
jenuaiI skinned
tunuasyou skinned
il/ellenuahe/she/it skinned
nousnuâmeswe skinned
vousnuâtesyou (pl.) skinned
ils/ellesnuèrentthey skinned

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
jenuais
tunuais
il/ellenuait
nousnuions
vousnuiez
ils/ellesnuaient

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
jenueraisI would skin
tunueraisyou would skin
il/ellenueraithe/she/it would skin
nousnuerionswe would skin
vousnueriezyou (pl.) would skin
ils/ellesnueraientthey would skin

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
jenueraiI will skin
tunuerasyou will skin
il/ellenuerahe/she/it will skin
nousnueronswe will skin
vousnuerezyou (pl.) will skin
ils/ellesnuerontthey will skin

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 nuéI have skinned
tutu as nuéyou have skinned
il/elleil/elle a nuéhe/she/it has skinned
nousnous avons nuéwe have skinned
vousvous avez nuéyou (pl.) have skinned
ils/ellesils/elles ont nuéthey have skinned

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 nuéI had skinned
tutu avais nuéyou had skinned
il/elleil/elle avait nuéhe/she/it had skinned
nousnous avions nuéwe had skinned
vousvous aviez nuéyou (pl.) had skinned
ils/ellesils/elles avaient nuéthey had skinned

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

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 nuéI will have skinned
tutu auras nuéyou will have skinned
il/elleil/elle aura nuéhe/she/it will have skinned
nousnous aurons nuéwe will have skinned
vousvous aurez nuéyou (pl.) will have skinned
ils/ellesils/elles auront nuéthey will have skinned

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
jenue
tunues
il/ellenue
nousnuions
vousnuiez
ils/ellesnuent

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
jenuasse
tunuasses
il/ellenuât
nousnuassions
vousnuassiez
ils/ellesnuassent

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
tunue
nousnuons
vousnuez