pendre — French conjugation

to hang

Frequency#738Regular

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
jependsI hang
tupendsyou hang
il/ellependhe/she/it hangs
nouspendonswe hang
vouspendezyou (pl.) hang
ils/ellespendentthey hang

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
jependisI hung
tupendisyou hung
il/ellependithe/she/it hung
nouspendîmeswe hung
vouspendîtesyou (pl.) hung
ils/ellespendirentthey hung

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
jependais
tupendais
il/ellependait
nouspendions
vouspendiez
ils/ellespendaient

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
jependraisI would hang
tupendraisyou would hang
il/ellependraithe/she/it would hang
nouspendrionswe would hang
vouspendriezyou (pl.) would hang
ils/ellespendraientthey would hang

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
jependraiI will hang
tupendrasyou will hang
il/ellependrahe/she/it will hang
nouspendronswe will hang
vouspendrezyou (pl.) will hang
ils/ellespendrontthey will hang

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 penduI have hung
tutu as penduyou have hung
il/elleil/elle a penduhe/she/it has hung
nousnous avons penduwe have hung
vousvous avez penduyou (pl.) have hung
ils/ellesils/elles ont penduthey have hung

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 penduI had hung
tutu avais penduyou had hung
il/elleil/elle avait penduhe/she/it had hung
nousnous avions penduwe had hung
vousvous aviez penduyou (pl.) had hung
ils/ellesils/elles avaient penduthey had hung

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

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 penduI will have hung
tutu auras penduyou will have hung
il/elleil/elle aura penduhe/she/it will have hung
nousnous aurons penduwe will have hung
vousvous aurez penduyou (pl.) will have hung
ils/ellesils/elles auront penduthey will have hung

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
jepende
tupendes
il/ellepende
nouspendions
vouspendiez
ils/ellespendent

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
jependisse
tupendisses
il/ellependît
nouspendissions
vouspendissiez
ils/ellespendissent

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
tupends
nouspendons
vouspendez