poignarder — French conjugation

to stab

Frequency#271Regular

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
jepoignardeI stab
tupoignardesyou stab
il/ellepoignardehe/she/it stabs
nouspoignardonswe stab
vouspoignardezyou (pl.) stab
ils/ellespoignardentthey stab

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
jepoignardaiI stabbed
tupoignardasyou stabbed
il/ellepoignardahe/she/it stabbed
nouspoignardâmeswe stabbed
vouspoignardâtesyou (pl.) stabbed
ils/ellespoignardèrentthey stabbed

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
jepoignardais
tupoignardais
il/ellepoignardait
nouspoignardions
vouspoignardiez
ils/ellespoignardaient

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
jepoignarderaisI would stab
tupoignarderaisyou would stab
il/ellepoignarderaithe/she/it would stab
nouspoignarderionswe would stab
vouspoignarderiezyou (pl.) would stab
ils/ellespoignarderaientthey would stab

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
jepoignarderaiI will stab
tupoignarderasyou will stab
il/ellepoignarderahe/she/it will stab
nouspoignarderonswe will stab
vouspoignarderezyou (pl.) will stab
ils/ellespoignarderontthey will stab

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 poignardéI have stabbed
tutu as poignardéyou have stabbed
il/elleil/elle a poignardéhe/she/it has stabbed
nousnous avons poignardéwe have stabbed
vousvous avez poignardéyou (pl.) have stabbed
ils/ellesils/elles ont poignardéthey have stabbed

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 poignardéI had stabbed
tutu avais poignardéyou had stabbed
il/elleil/elle avait poignardéhe/she/it had stabbed
nousnous avions poignardéwe had stabbed
vousvous aviez poignardéyou (pl.) had stabbed
ils/ellesils/elles avaient poignardéthey had stabbed

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

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 poignardéI will have stabbed
tutu auras poignardéyou will have stabbed
il/elleil/elle aura poignardéhe/she/it will have stabbed
nousnous aurons poignardéwe will have stabbed
vousvous aurez poignardéyou (pl.) will have stabbed
ils/ellesils/elles auront poignardéthey will have stabbed

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
jepoignarde
tupoignardes
il/ellepoignarde
nouspoignardions
vouspoignardiez
ils/ellespoignardent

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
jepoignardasse
tupoignardasses
il/ellepoignardât
nouspoignardassions
vouspoignardassiez
ils/ellespoignardassent

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
tupoignarde
nouspoignardons
vouspoignardez