peser — French conjugation

to weigh (to have a weight of)

Frequency#349Irregular

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.

PronounFrenchEnglish
jepèseI weigh
tupèsesyou weigh
il/ellepèsehe/she/it weighs
nouspesonswe weigh
vouspesezyou (pl.) weigh
ils/ellespèsentthey weigh

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
jepesaiI weighed
tupesasyou weighed
il/ellepesahe/she/it weighed
nouspesâmeswe weighed
vouspesâtesyou (pl.) weighed
ils/ellespesèrentthey weighed

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
jepesais
tupesais
il/ellepesait
nouspesions
vouspesiez
ils/ellespesaient

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 ?

PronounFrenchEnglish
jepèseraisI would weigh
tupèseraisyou would weigh
il/ellepèseraithe/she/it would weigh
nouspèserionswe would weigh
vouspèseriezyou (pl.) would weigh
ils/ellespèseraientthey would weigh

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.

PronounFrenchEnglish
jepèseraiI will weigh
tupèserasyou will weigh
il/ellepèserahe/she/it will weigh
nouspèseronswe will weigh
vouspèserezyou (pl.) will weigh
ils/ellespèserontthey will weigh

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 peséI have weighed
tutu as peséyou have weighed
il/elleil/elle a peséhe/she/it has weighed
nousnous avons peséwe have weighed
vousvous avez peséyou (pl.) have weighed
ils/ellesils/elles ont peséthey have weighed

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 peséI had weighed
tutu avais peséyou had weighed
il/elleil/elle avait peséhe/she/it had weighed
nousnous avions peséwe had weighed
vousvous aviez peséyou (pl.) had weighed
ils/ellesils/elles avaient peséthey had weighed

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

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 peséI will have weighed
tutu auras peséyou will have weighed
il/elleil/elle aura peséhe/she/it will have weighed
nousnous aurons peséwe will have weighed
vousvous aurez peséyou (pl.) will have weighed
ils/ellesils/elles auront peséthey will have weighed

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.

PronounFrench
jepèse
tupèses
il/ellepèse
nouspesions
vouspesiez
ils/ellespèsent

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
jepesasse
tupesasses
il/ellepesât
nouspesassions
vouspesassiez
ils/ellespesassent

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
tupèse
nouspesons
vouspesez