préoccuper — French conjugation

to preoccupy

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
jepréoccupeI preoccupy
tupréoccupesyou preoccupy
il/ellepréoccupehe/she/it preoccupies
nouspréoccuponswe preoccupy
vouspréoccupezyou (pl.) preoccupy
ils/ellespréoccupentthey preoccupy

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
jepréoccupaiI preoccupied
tupréoccupasyou preoccupied
il/ellepréoccupahe/she/it preoccupied
nouspréoccupâmeswe preoccupied
vouspréoccupâtesyou (pl.) preoccupied
ils/ellespréoccupèrentthey preoccupied

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
jepréoccupais
tupréoccupais
il/ellepréoccupait
nouspréoccupions
vouspréoccupiez
ils/ellespréoccupaient

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
jepréoccuperaisI would preoccupy
tupréoccuperaisyou would preoccupy
il/ellepréoccuperaithe/she/it would preoccupy
nouspréoccuperionswe would preoccupy
vouspréoccuperiezyou (pl.) would preoccupy
ils/ellespréoccuperaientthey would preoccupy

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
jepréoccuperaiI will preoccupy
tupréoccuperasyou will preoccupy
il/ellepréoccuperahe/she/it will preoccupy
nouspréoccuperonswe will preoccupy
vouspréoccuperezyou (pl.) will preoccupy
ils/ellespréoccuperontthey will preoccupy

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 préoccupéI have preoccupied
tutu as préoccupéyou have preoccupied
il/elleil/elle a préoccupéhe/she/it has preoccupied
nousnous avons préoccupéwe have preoccupied
vousvous avez préoccupéyou (pl.) have preoccupied
ils/ellesils/elles ont préoccupéthey have preoccupied

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 préoccupéI had preoccupied
tutu avais préoccupéyou had preoccupied
il/elleil/elle avait préoccupéhe/she/it had preoccupied
nousnous avions préoccupéwe had preoccupied
vousvous aviez préoccupéyou (pl.) had preoccupied
ils/ellesils/elles avaient préoccupéthey had preoccupied

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

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 préoccupéI will have preoccupied
tutu auras préoccupéyou will have preoccupied
il/elleil/elle aura préoccupéhe/she/it will have preoccupied
nousnous aurons préoccupéwe will have preoccupied
vousvous aurez préoccupéyou (pl.) will have preoccupied
ils/ellesils/elles auront préoccupéthey will have preoccupied

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
jepréoccupe
tupréoccupes
il/ellepréoccupe
nouspréoccupions
vouspréoccupiez
ils/ellespréoccupent

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
jepréoccupasse
tupréoccupasses
il/ellepréoccupât
nouspréoccupassions
vouspréoccupassiez
ils/ellespréoccupassent

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
tupréoccupe
nouspréoccupons
vouspréoccupez