pâtir — French conjugation

to suffer

Frequency#328Regular

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
jepâtisI suffer
tupâtisyou suffer
il/ellepâtithe/she/it suffers
nouspâtissonswe suffer
vouspâtissezyou (pl.) suffer
ils/ellespâtissentthey suffer

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
jepâtisI suffered
tupâtisyou suffered
il/ellepâtithe/she/it suffered
nouspâtîmeswe suffered
vouspâtîtesyou (pl.) suffered
ils/ellespâtirentthey suffered

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
jepâtissais
tupâtissais
il/ellepâtissait
nouspâtissions
vouspâtissiez
ils/ellespâtissaient

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
jepâtiraisI would suffer
tupâtiraisyou would suffer
il/ellepâtiraithe/she/it would suffer
nouspâtirionswe would suffer
vouspâtiriezyou (pl.) would suffer
ils/ellespâtiraientthey would suffer

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
jepâtiraiI will suffer
tupâtirasyou will suffer
il/ellepâtirahe/she/it will suffer
nouspâtironswe will suffer
vouspâtirezyou (pl.) will suffer
ils/ellespâtirontthey will suffer

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 pâtiI have suffered
tutu as pâtiyou have suffered
il/elleil/elle a pâtihe/she/it has suffered
nousnous avons pâtiwe have suffered
vousvous avez pâtiyou (pl.) have suffered
ils/ellesils/elles ont pâtithey have suffered

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 pâtiI had suffered
tutu avais pâtiyou had suffered
il/elleil/elle avait pâtihe/she/it had suffered
nousnous avions pâtiwe had suffered
vousvous aviez pâtiyou (pl.) had suffered
ils/ellesils/elles avaient pâtithey had suffered

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

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 pâtiI will have suffered
tutu auras pâtiyou will have suffered
il/elleil/elle aura pâtihe/she/it will have suffered
nousnous aurons pâtiwe will have suffered
vousvous aurez pâtiyou (pl.) will have suffered
ils/ellesils/elles auront pâtithey will have suffered

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
jepâtisse
tupâtisses
il/ellepâtisse
nouspâtissions
vouspâtissiez
ils/ellespâtissent

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
jepâtisse
tupâtisses
il/ellepâtît
nouspâtissions
vouspâtissiez
ils/ellespâtissent

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
tupâtis
nouspâtissons
vouspâtissez