occuper — French conjugation

to occupy

Frequency#135Regular

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
jeoccupeI occupy
tuoccupesyou occupy
il/elleoccupehe/she/it occupies
nousoccuponswe occupy
vousoccupezyou (pl.) occupy
ils/ellesoccupentthey occupy

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
jeoccupaiI occupied
tuoccupasyou occupied
il/elleoccupahe/she/it occupied
nousoccupâmeswe occupied
vousoccupâtesyou (pl.) occupied
ils/ellesoccupèrentthey occupied

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
jeoccupais
tuoccupais
il/elleoccupait
nousoccupions
vousoccupiez
ils/ellesoccupaient

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
jeoccuperaisI would occupy
tuoccuperaisyou would occupy
il/elleoccuperaithe/she/it would occupy
nousoccuperionswe would occupy
vousoccuperiezyou (pl.) would occupy
ils/ellesoccuperaientthey would occupy

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
jeoccuperaiI will occupy
tuoccuperasyou will occupy
il/elleoccuperahe/she/it will occupy
nousoccuperonswe will occupy
vousoccuperezyou (pl.) will occupy
ils/ellesoccuperontthey will occupy

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 occupéI have occupied
tutu as occupéyou have occupied
il/elleil/elle a occupéhe/she/it has occupied
nousnous avons occupéwe have occupied
vousvous avez occupéyou (pl.) have occupied
ils/ellesils/elles ont occupéthey have occupied

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 occupéI had occupied
tutu avais occupéyou had occupied
il/elleil/elle avait occupéhe/she/it had occupied
nousnous avions occupéwe had occupied
vousvous aviez occupéyou (pl.) had occupied
ils/ellesils/elles avaient occupéthey had occupied

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

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 occupéI will have occupied
tutu auras occupéyou will have occupied
il/elleil/elle aura occupéhe/she/it will have occupied
nousnous aurons occupéwe will have occupied
vousvous aurez occupéyou (pl.) will have occupied
ils/ellesils/elles auront occupéthey will have occupied

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
jeoccupe
tuoccupes
il/elleoccupe
nousoccupions
vousoccupiez
ils/ellesoccupent

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
jeoccupasse
tuoccupasses
il/elleoccupât
nousoccupassions
vousoccupassiez
ils/ellesoccupassent

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
tuoccupe
nousoccupons
vousoccupez