provenir — French conjugation
to come from
Indicative
Present (Présent) Irregular
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.
| Pronoun | French | English |
|---|---|---|
| je | proviens | I come from |
| tu | proviens | you come from |
| il/elle | provient | he/she/it comes from |
| nous | provenons | we come from |
| vous | provenez | you (pl.) come from |
| ils/elles | proviennent | they come from |
Simple past (Passé simple) Irregular
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.
| Pronoun | French | English |
|---|---|---|
| je | provins | I came from |
| tu | provins | you came from |
| il/elle | provint | he/she/it came from |
| nous | provînmes | we came from |
| vous | provîntes | you (pl.) came from |
| ils/elles | provinrent | they came from |
Imperfect (Imparfait) Irregular
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.
| Pronoun | French |
|---|---|
| je | provenais |
| tu | provenais |
| il/elle | provenait |
| nous | provenions |
| vous | proveniez |
| ils/elles | provenaient |
Conditional (Conditionnel) Irregular
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 ?
| Pronoun | French | English |
|---|---|---|
| je | proviendrais | I would come from |
| tu | proviendrais | you would come from |
| il/elle | proviendrait | he/she/it would come from |
| nous | proviendrions | we would come from |
| vous | proviendriez | you (pl.) would come from |
| ils/elles | proviendraient | they would come from |
Future (Futur) Irregular
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.
| Pronoun | French | English |
|---|---|---|
| je | proviendrai | I will come from |
| tu | proviendras | you will come from |
| il/elle | proviendra | he/she/it will come from |
| nous | proviendrons | we will come from |
| vous | proviendrez | you (pl.) will come from |
| ils/elles | proviendront | they will come from |
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.
| Pronoun | French | English |
|---|---|---|
| je | je suis provenu(e) | I have come from |
| tu | tu es provenu(e) | you have come from |
| il/elle | il/elle est provenu(e) | he/she/it has come from |
| nous | nous sommes provenu(e)s | we have come from |
| vous | vous êtes provenu(e)(s) | you (pl.) have come from |
| ils/elles | ils/elles sont provenu(e)s | they have come from |
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.
| Pronoun | French | English |
|---|---|---|
| je | j'étais provenu(e) | I had come from |
| tu | tu étais provenu(e) | you had come from |
| il/elle | il/elle était provenu(e) | he/she/it had come from |
| nous | nous étions provenu(e)s | we had come from |
| vous | vous étiez provenu(e)(s) | you (pl.) had come from |
| ils/elles | ils/elles étaient provenu(e)s | they had come from |
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.
| Pronoun | French |
|---|---|
| je | je serais provenu(e) |
| tu | tu serais provenu(e) |
| il/elle | il/elle serait provenu(e) |
| nous | nous serions provenu(e)s |
| vous | vous seriez provenu(e)(s) |
| ils/elles | ils/elles seraient provenu(e)s |
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.
| Pronoun | French | English |
|---|---|---|
| je | je serai provenu(e) | I will have come from |
| tu | tu seras provenu(e) | you will have come from |
| il/elle | il/elle sera provenu(e) | he/she/it will have come from |
| nous | nous serons provenu(e)s | we will have come from |
| vous | vous serez provenu(e)(s) | you (pl.) will have come from |
| ils/elles | ils/elles seront provenu(e)s | they will have come from |
Subjunctive
Present subjunctive (Subjonctif présent) Irregular
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.
| Pronoun | French |
|---|---|
| je | provienne |
| tu | proviennes |
| il/elle | provienne |
| nous | provenions |
| vous | proveniez |
| ils/elles | proviennent |
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.
| Pronoun | French |
|---|---|
| je | provinsse |
| tu | provinsses |
| il/elle | provînt |
| nous | provinssions |
| vous | provinssiez |
| ils/elles | provinssent |
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 !
| Pronoun | French |
|---|---|
| tu | proviens |
| nous | provenons |
| vous | provenez |