recouper — French conjugation

to overlap

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
jerecoupeI overlap
turecoupesyou overlap
il/ellerecoupehe/she/it overlaps
nousrecouponswe overlap
vousrecoupezyou (pl.) overlap
ils/ellesrecoupentthey overlap

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
jerecoupaiI overlapped
turecoupasyou overlapped
il/ellerecoupahe/she/it overlapped
nousrecoupâmeswe overlapped
vousrecoupâtesyou (pl.) overlapped
ils/ellesrecoupèrentthey overlapped

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
jerecoupais
turecoupais
il/ellerecoupait
nousrecoupions
vousrecoupiez
ils/ellesrecoupaient

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
jerecouperaisI would overlap
turecouperaisyou would overlap
il/ellerecouperaithe/she/it would overlap
nousrecouperionswe would overlap
vousrecouperiezyou (pl.) would overlap
ils/ellesrecouperaientthey would overlap

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
jerecouperaiI will overlap
turecouperasyou will overlap
il/ellerecouperahe/she/it will overlap
nousrecouperonswe will overlap
vousrecouperezyou (pl.) will overlap
ils/ellesrecouperontthey will overlap

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 recoupéI have overlapped
tutu as recoupéyou have overlapped
il/elleil/elle a recoupéhe/she/it has overlapped
nousnous avons recoupéwe have overlapped
vousvous avez recoupéyou (pl.) have overlapped
ils/ellesils/elles ont recoupéthey have overlapped

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 recoupéI had overlapped
tutu avais recoupéyou had overlapped
il/elleil/elle avait recoupéhe/she/it had overlapped
nousnous avions recoupéwe had overlapped
vousvous aviez recoupéyou (pl.) had overlapped
ils/ellesils/elles avaient recoupéthey had overlapped

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

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 recoupéI will have overlapped
tutu auras recoupéyou will have overlapped
il/elleil/elle aura recoupéhe/she/it will have overlapped
nousnous aurons recoupéwe will have overlapped
vousvous aurez recoupéyou (pl.) will have overlapped
ils/ellesils/elles auront recoupéthey will have overlapped

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
jerecoupe
turecoupes
il/ellerecoupe
nousrecoupions
vousrecoupiez
ils/ellesrecoupent

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
jerecoupasse
turecoupasses
il/ellerecoupât
nousrecoupassions
vousrecoupassiez
ils/ellesrecoupassent

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
turecoupe
nousrecoupons
vousrecoupez