persuader — French conjugation

to persuade

Frequency#663Regular

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
jepersuadeI persuade
tupersuadesyou persuade
il/ellepersuadehe/she/it persuades
nouspersuadonswe persuade
vouspersuadezyou (pl.) persuade
ils/ellespersuadentthey persuade

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
jepersuadaiI persuaded
tupersuadasyou persuaded
il/ellepersuadahe/she/it persuaded
nouspersuadâmeswe persuaded
vouspersuadâtesyou (pl.) persuaded
ils/ellespersuadèrentthey persuaded

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
jepersuadais
tupersuadais
il/ellepersuadait
nouspersuadions
vouspersuadiez
ils/ellespersuadaient

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
jepersuaderaisI would persuade
tupersuaderaisyou would persuade
il/ellepersuaderaithe/she/it would persuade
nouspersuaderionswe would persuade
vouspersuaderiezyou (pl.) would persuade
ils/ellespersuaderaientthey would persuade

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
jepersuaderaiI will persuade
tupersuaderasyou will persuade
il/ellepersuaderahe/she/it will persuade
nouspersuaderonswe will persuade
vouspersuaderezyou (pl.) will persuade
ils/ellespersuaderontthey will persuade

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 persuadéI have persuaded
tutu as persuadéyou have persuaded
il/elleil/elle a persuadéhe/she/it has persuaded
nousnous avons persuadéwe have persuaded
vousvous avez persuadéyou (pl.) have persuaded
ils/ellesils/elles ont persuadéthey have persuaded

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 persuadéI had persuaded
tutu avais persuadéyou had persuaded
il/elleil/elle avait persuadéhe/she/it had persuaded
nousnous avions persuadéwe had persuaded
vousvous aviez persuadéyou (pl.) had persuaded
ils/ellesils/elles avaient persuadéthey had persuaded

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

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 persuadéI will have persuaded
tutu auras persuadéyou will have persuaded
il/elleil/elle aura persuadéhe/she/it will have persuaded
nousnous aurons persuadéwe will have persuaded
vousvous aurez persuadéyou (pl.) will have persuaded
ils/ellesils/elles auront persuadéthey will have persuaded

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
jepersuade
tupersuades
il/ellepersuade
nouspersuadions
vouspersuadiez
ils/ellespersuadent

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
jepersuadasse
tupersuadasses
il/ellepersuadât
nouspersuadassions
vouspersuadassiez
ils/ellespersuadassent

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
tupersuade
nouspersuadons
vouspersuadez