plumer — French conjugation

to pluck

Frequency#614Regular

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
jeplumeI pluck
tuplumesyou pluck
il/elleplumehe/she/it plucks
nousplumonswe pluck
vousplumezyou (pl.) pluck
ils/ellesplumentthey pluck

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
jeplumaiI plucked
tuplumasyou plucked
il/elleplumahe/she/it plucked
nousplumâmeswe plucked
vousplumâtesyou (pl.) plucked
ils/ellesplumèrentthey plucked

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
jeplumais
tuplumais
il/elleplumait
nousplumions
vousplumiez
ils/ellesplumaient

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
jeplumeraisI would pluck
tuplumeraisyou would pluck
il/elleplumeraithe/she/it would pluck
nousplumerionswe would pluck
vousplumeriezyou (pl.) would pluck
ils/ellesplumeraientthey would pluck

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
jeplumeraiI will pluck
tuplumerasyou will pluck
il/elleplumerahe/she/it will pluck
nousplumeronswe will pluck
vousplumerezyou (pl.) will pluck
ils/ellesplumerontthey will pluck

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 pluméI have plucked
tutu as pluméyou have plucked
il/elleil/elle a pluméhe/she/it has plucked
nousnous avons pluméwe have plucked
vousvous avez pluméyou (pl.) have plucked
ils/ellesils/elles ont pluméthey have plucked

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 pluméI had plucked
tutu avais pluméyou had plucked
il/elleil/elle avait pluméhe/she/it had plucked
nousnous avions pluméwe had plucked
vousvous aviez pluméyou (pl.) had plucked
ils/ellesils/elles avaient pluméthey had plucked

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

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 pluméI will have plucked
tutu auras pluméyou will have plucked
il/elleil/elle aura pluméhe/she/it will have plucked
nousnous aurons pluméwe will have plucked
vousvous aurez pluméyou (pl.) will have plucked
ils/ellesils/elles auront pluméthey will have plucked

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
jeplume
tuplumes
il/elleplume
nousplumions
vousplumiez
ils/ellesplument

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
jeplumasse
tuplumasses
il/elleplumât
nousplumassions
vousplumassiez
ils/ellesplumassent

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
tuplume
nousplumons
vousplumez