râler — French conjugation

to complain

Frequency#725Regular

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
jerâleI complain
turâlesyou complain
il/ellerâlehe/she/it complains
nousrâlonswe complain
vousrâlezyou (pl.) complain
ils/ellesrâlentthey complain

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
jerâlaiI complained
turâlasyou complained
il/ellerâlahe/she/it complained
nousrâlâmeswe complained
vousrâlâtesyou (pl.) complained
ils/ellesrâlèrentthey complained

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
jerâlais
turâlais
il/ellerâlait
nousrâlions
vousrâliez
ils/ellesrâlaient

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
jerâleraisI would complain
turâleraisyou would complain
il/ellerâleraithe/she/it would complain
nousrâlerionswe would complain
vousrâleriezyou (pl.) would complain
ils/ellesrâleraientthey would complain

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
jerâleraiI will complain
turâlerasyou will complain
il/ellerâlerahe/she/it will complain
nousrâleronswe will complain
vousrâlerezyou (pl.) will complain
ils/ellesrâlerontthey will complain

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 râléI have complained
tutu as râléyou have complained
il/elleil/elle a râléhe/she/it has complained
nousnous avons râléwe have complained
vousvous avez râléyou (pl.) have complained
ils/ellesils/elles ont râléthey have complained

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 râléI had complained
tutu avais râléyou had complained
il/elleil/elle avait râléhe/she/it had complained
nousnous avions râléwe had complained
vousvous aviez râléyou (pl.) had complained
ils/ellesils/elles avaient râléthey had complained

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

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 râléI will have complained
tutu auras râléyou will have complained
il/elleil/elle aura râléhe/she/it will have complained
nousnous aurons râléwe will have complained
vousvous aurez râléyou (pl.) will have complained
ils/ellesils/elles auront râléthey will have complained

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
jerâle
turâles
il/ellerâle
nousrâlions
vousrâliez
ils/ellesrâlent

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
jerâlasse
turâlasses
il/ellerâlât
nousrâlassions
vousrâlassiez
ils/ellesrâlassent

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
turâle
nousrâlons
vousrâlez