pousser — French conjugation

to push

Frequency#269Regular

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
jepousseI push
tupoussesyou push
il/ellepoussehe/she/it pushes
nouspoussonswe push
vouspoussezyou (pl.) push
ils/ellespoussentthey push

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
jepoussaiI pushed
tupoussasyou pushed
il/ellepoussahe/she/it pushed
nouspoussâmeswe pushed
vouspoussâtesyou (pl.) pushed
ils/ellespoussèrentthey pushed

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
jepoussais
tupoussais
il/ellepoussait
nouspoussions
vouspoussiez
ils/ellespoussaient

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
jepousseraisI would push
tupousseraisyou would push
il/ellepousseraithe/she/it would push
nouspousserionswe would push
vouspousseriezyou (pl.) would push
ils/ellespousseraientthey would push

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
jepousseraiI will push
tupousserasyou will push
il/ellepousserahe/she/it will push
nouspousseronswe will push
vouspousserezyou (pl.) will push
ils/ellespousserontthey will push

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 pousséI have pushed
tutu as pousséyou have pushed
il/elleil/elle a pousséhe/she/it has pushed
nousnous avons pousséwe have pushed
vousvous avez pousséyou (pl.) have pushed
ils/ellesils/elles ont pousséthey have pushed

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 pousséI had pushed
tutu avais pousséyou had pushed
il/elleil/elle avait pousséhe/she/it had pushed
nousnous avions pousséwe had pushed
vousvous aviez pousséyou (pl.) had pushed
ils/ellesils/elles avaient pousséthey had pushed

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

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 pousséI will have pushed
tutu auras pousséyou will have pushed
il/elleil/elle aura pousséhe/she/it will have pushed
nousnous aurons pousséwe will have pushed
vousvous aurez pousséyou (pl.) will have pushed
ils/ellesils/elles auront pousséthey will have pushed

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
jepousse
tupousses
il/ellepousse
nouspoussions
vouspoussiez
ils/ellespoussent

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
jepoussasse
tupoussasses
il/ellepoussât
nouspoussassions
vouspoussassiez
ils/ellespoussassent

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
tupousse
nouspoussons
vouspoussez