opposer — French conjugation

to oppose

Frequency#1422Regular

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
jeopposeI oppose
tuopposesyou oppose
il/elleopposehe/she/it opposes
nousopposonswe oppose
vousopposezyou (pl.) oppose
ils/ellesopposentthey oppose

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
jeopposaiI opposed
tuopposasyou opposed
il/elleopposahe/she/it opposed
nousopposâmeswe opposed
vousopposâtesyou (pl.) opposed
ils/ellesopposèrentthey opposed

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
jeopposais
tuopposais
il/elleopposait
nousopposions
vousopposiez
ils/ellesopposaient

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
jeopposeraisI would oppose
tuopposeraisyou would oppose
il/elleopposeraithe/she/it would oppose
nousopposerionswe would oppose
vousopposeriezyou (pl.) would oppose
ils/ellesopposeraientthey would oppose

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
jeopposeraiI will oppose
tuopposerasyou will oppose
il/elleopposerahe/she/it will oppose
nousopposeronswe will oppose
vousopposerezyou (pl.) will oppose
ils/ellesopposerontthey will oppose

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 opposéI have opposed
tutu as opposéyou have opposed
il/elleil/elle a opposéhe/she/it has opposed
nousnous avons opposéwe have opposed
vousvous avez opposéyou (pl.) have opposed
ils/ellesils/elles ont opposéthey have opposed

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 opposéI had opposed
tutu avais opposéyou had opposed
il/elleil/elle avait opposéhe/she/it had opposed
nousnous avions opposéwe had opposed
vousvous aviez opposéyou (pl.) had opposed
ils/ellesils/elles avaient opposéthey had opposed

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

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 opposéI will have opposed
tutu auras opposéyou will have opposed
il/elleil/elle aura opposéhe/she/it will have opposed
nousnous aurons opposéwe will have opposed
vousvous aurez opposéyou (pl.) will have opposed
ils/ellesils/elles auront opposéthey will have opposed

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
jeoppose
tuopposes
il/elleoppose
nousopposions
vousopposiez
ils/ellesopposent

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
jeopposasse
tuopposasses
il/elleopposât
nousopposassions
vousopposassiez
ils/ellesopposassent

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
tuoppose
nousopposons
vousopposez