parcourir — French conjugation
to travel through
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.
| Pronoun | French | English |
|---|---|---|
| je | parcours | I travel through |
| tu | parcours | you travel through |
| il/elle | parcourt | he/she/it travels through |
| nous | parcourons | we travel through |
| vous | parcourez | you (pl.) travel through |
| ils/elles | parcourent | they travel through |
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.
| Pronoun | French | English |
|---|---|---|
| je | parcourus | I travelled through |
| tu | parcourus | you travelled through |
| il/elle | parcourut | he/she/it travelled through |
| nous | parcourûmes | we travelled through |
| vous | parcourûtes | you (pl.) travelled through |
| ils/elles | parcoururent | they travelled through |
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.
| Pronoun | French |
|---|---|
| je | parcourais |
| tu | parcourais |
| il/elle | parcourait |
| nous | parcourions |
| vous | parcouriez |
| ils/elles | parcouraient |
Conditional (Conditionnel) Irregular
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 ?
| Pronoun | French | English |
|---|---|---|
| je | parcourrais | I would travel through |
| tu | parcourrais | you would travel through |
| il/elle | parcourrait | he/she/it would travel through |
| nous | parcourrions | we would travel through |
| vous | parcourriez | you (pl.) would travel through |
| ils/elles | parcourraient | they would travel through |
Future (Futur) Irregular
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.
| Pronoun | French | English |
|---|---|---|
| je | parcourrai | I will travel through |
| tu | parcourras | you will travel through |
| il/elle | parcourra | he/she/it will travel through |
| nous | parcourrons | we will travel through |
| vous | parcourrez | you (pl.) will travel through |
| ils/elles | parcourront | they will travel through |
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.
| Pronoun | French | English |
|---|---|---|
| je | j'ai parcouru | I have travelled through |
| tu | tu as parcouru | you have travelled through |
| il/elle | il/elle a parcouru | he/she/it has travelled through |
| nous | nous avons parcouru | we have travelled through |
| vous | vous avez parcouru | you (pl.) have travelled through |
| ils/elles | ils/elles ont parcouru | they have travelled through |
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.
| Pronoun | French | English |
|---|---|---|
| je | j'avais parcouru | I had travelled through |
| tu | tu avais parcouru | you had travelled through |
| il/elle | il/elle avait parcouru | he/she/it had travelled through |
| nous | nous avions parcouru | we had travelled through |
| vous | vous aviez parcouru | you (pl.) had travelled through |
| ils/elles | ils/elles avaient parcouru | they had travelled through |
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.
| Pronoun | French |
|---|---|
| je | j'aurais parcouru |
| tu | tu aurais parcouru |
| il/elle | il/elle aurait parcouru |
| nous | nous aurions parcouru |
| vous | vous auriez parcouru |
| ils/elles | ils/elles auraient parcouru |
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.
| Pronoun | French | English |
|---|---|---|
| je | j'aurai parcouru | I will have travelled through |
| tu | tu auras parcouru | you will have travelled through |
| il/elle | il/elle aura parcouru | he/she/it will have travelled through |
| nous | nous aurons parcouru | we will have travelled through |
| vous | vous aurez parcouru | you (pl.) will have travelled through |
| ils/elles | ils/elles auront parcouru | they will have travelled through |
Subjunctive
Present subjunctive (Subjonctif présent) Irregular
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.
| Pronoun | French |
|---|---|
| je | parcoure |
| tu | parcoures |
| il/elle | parcoure |
| nous | parcourions |
| vous | parcouriez |
| ils/elles | parcourent |
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.
| Pronoun | French |
|---|---|
| je | parcourusse |
| tu | parcourusses |
| il/elle | parcourût |
| nous | parcourussions |
| vous | parcourussiez |
| ils/elles | parcourussent |
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 !
| Pronoun | French |
|---|---|
| tu | parcours |
| nous | parcourons |
| vous | parcourez |