recommencer — French conjugation
to recommence
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 | recommence | I recommence |
| tu | recommences | you recommence |
| il/elle | recommence | he/she/it recommences |
| nous | recommençons | we recommence |
| vous | recommencez | you (pl.) recommence |
| ils/elles | recommencent | they recommence |
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 | recommençai | I recommenced |
| tu | recommenças | you recommenced |
| il/elle | recommença | he/she/it recommenced |
| nous | recommençâmes | we recommenced |
| vous | recommençâtes | you (pl.) recommenced |
| ils/elles | recommencèrent | they recommenced |
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 | recommençais |
| tu | recommençais |
| il/elle | recommençait |
| nous | recommencions |
| vous | recommenciez |
| ils/elles | recommençaient |
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 ?
| Pronoun | French | English |
|---|---|---|
| je | recommencerais | I would recommence |
| tu | recommencerais | you would recommence |
| il/elle | recommencerait | he/she/it would recommence |
| nous | recommencerions | we would recommence |
| vous | recommenceriez | you (pl.) would recommence |
| ils/elles | recommenceraient | they would recommence |
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.
| Pronoun | French | English |
|---|---|---|
| je | recommencerai | I will recommence |
| tu | recommenceras | you will recommence |
| il/elle | recommencera | he/she/it will recommence |
| nous | recommencerons | we will recommence |
| vous | recommencerez | you (pl.) will recommence |
| ils/elles | recommenceront | they will recommence |
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 | j'ai recommencé | I have recommenced |
| tu | tu as recommencé | you have recommenced |
| il/elle | il/elle a recommencé | he/she/it has recommenced |
| nous | nous avons recommencé | we have recommenced |
| vous | vous avez recommencé | you (pl.) have recommenced |
| ils/elles | ils/elles ont recommencé | they have recommenced |
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'avais recommencé | I had recommenced |
| tu | tu avais recommencé | you had recommenced |
| il/elle | il/elle avait recommencé | he/she/it had recommenced |
| nous | nous avions recommencé | we had recommenced |
| vous | vous aviez recommencé | you (pl.) had recommenced |
| ils/elles | ils/elles avaient recommencé | they had recommenced |
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 | j'aurais recommencé |
| tu | tu aurais recommencé |
| il/elle | il/elle aurait recommencé |
| nous | nous aurions recommencé |
| vous | vous auriez recommencé |
| ils/elles | ils/elles auraient recommencé |
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 | j'aurai recommencé | I will have recommenced |
| tu | tu auras recommencé | you will have recommenced |
| il/elle | il/elle aura recommencé | he/she/it will have recommenced |
| nous | nous aurons recommencé | we will have recommenced |
| vous | vous aurez recommencé | you (pl.) will have recommenced |
| ils/elles | ils/elles auront recommencé | they will have recommenced |
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.
| Pronoun | French |
|---|---|
| je | recommence |
| tu | recommences |
| il/elle | recommence |
| nous | recommencions |
| vous | recommenciez |
| ils/elles | recommencent |
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 | recommençasse |
| tu | recommençasses |
| il/elle | recommençât |
| nous | recommençassions |
| vous | recommençassiez |
| ils/elles | recommençassent |
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 | recommence |
| nous | recommençons |
| vous | recommencez |