plaquer — French conjugation

to tackle, to dump

Frequency#36Regular

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
jeplaqueI tackle
tuplaquesyou tackle
il/elleplaquehe/she/it tackles
nousplaquonswe tackle
vousplaquezyou (pl.) tackle
ils/ellesplaquentthey tackle

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
jeplaquaiI tackled
tuplaquasyou tackled
il/elleplaquahe/she/it tackled
nousplaquâmeswe tackled
vousplaquâtesyou (pl.) tackled
ils/ellesplaquèrentthey tackled

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
jeplaquais
tuplaquais
il/elleplaquait
nousplaquions
vousplaquiez
ils/ellesplaquaient

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
jeplaqueraisI would tackle
tuplaqueraisyou would tackle
il/elleplaqueraithe/she/it would tackle
nousplaquerionswe would tackle
vousplaqueriezyou (pl.) would tackle
ils/ellesplaqueraientthey would tackle

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
jeplaqueraiI will tackle
tuplaquerasyou will tackle
il/elleplaquerahe/she/it will tackle
nousplaqueronswe will tackle
vousplaquerezyou (pl.) will tackle
ils/ellesplaquerontthey will tackle

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 plaquéI have tackled
tutu as plaquéyou have tackled
il/elleil/elle a plaquéhe/she/it has tackled
nousnous avons plaquéwe have tackled
vousvous avez plaquéyou (pl.) have tackled
ils/ellesils/elles ont plaquéthey have tackled

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 plaquéI had tackled
tutu avais plaquéyou had tackled
il/elleil/elle avait plaquéhe/she/it had tackled
nousnous avions plaquéwe had tackled
vousvous aviez plaquéyou (pl.) had tackled
ils/ellesils/elles avaient plaquéthey had tackled

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

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 plaquéI will have tackled
tutu auras plaquéyou will have tackled
il/elleil/elle aura plaquéhe/she/it will have tackled
nousnous aurons plaquéwe will have tackled
vousvous aurez plaquéyou (pl.) will have tackled
ils/ellesils/elles auront plaquéthey will have tackled

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
jeplaque
tuplaques
il/elleplaque
nousplaquions
vousplaquiez
ils/ellesplaquent

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
jeplaquasse
tuplaquasses
il/elleplaquât
nousplaquassions
vousplaquassiez
ils/ellesplaquassent

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
tuplaque
nousplaquons
vousplaquez