redonner — French conjugation

to give back

Frequency#1459Regular

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
jeredonneI give back
turedonnesyou give back
il/elleredonnehe/she/it gives back
nousredonnonswe give back
vousredonnezyou (pl.) give back
ils/ellesredonnentthey give back

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
jeredonnaiI gave back
turedonnasyou gave back
il/elleredonnahe/she/it gave back
nousredonnâmeswe gave back
vousredonnâtesyou (pl.) gave back
ils/ellesredonnèrentthey gave back

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
jeredonnais
turedonnais
il/elleredonnait
nousredonnions
vousredonniez
ils/ellesredonnaient

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
jeredonneraisI would give back
turedonneraisyou would give back
il/elleredonneraithe/she/it would give back
nousredonnerionswe would give back
vousredonneriezyou (pl.) would give back
ils/ellesredonneraientthey would give back

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
jeredonneraiI will give back
turedonnerasyou will give back
il/elleredonnerahe/she/it will give back
nousredonneronswe will give back
vousredonnerezyou (pl.) will give back
ils/ellesredonnerontthey will give back

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 redonnéI have given back
tutu as redonnéyou have given back
il/elleil/elle a redonnéhe/she/it has given back
nousnous avons redonnéwe have given back
vousvous avez redonnéyou (pl.) have given back
ils/ellesils/elles ont redonnéthey have given back

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 redonnéI had given back
tutu avais redonnéyou had given back
il/elleil/elle avait redonnéhe/she/it had given back
nousnous avions redonnéwe had given back
vousvous aviez redonnéyou (pl.) had given back
ils/ellesils/elles avaient redonnéthey had given back

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

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 redonnéI will have given back
tutu auras redonnéyou will have given back
il/elleil/elle aura redonnéhe/she/it will have given back
nousnous aurons redonnéwe will have given back
vousvous aurez redonnéyou (pl.) will have given back
ils/ellesils/elles auront redonnéthey will have given back

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
jeredonne
turedonnes
il/elleredonne
nousredonnions
vousredonniez
ils/ellesredonnent

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
jeredonnasse
turedonnasses
il/elleredonnât
nousredonnassions
vousredonnassiez
ils/ellesredonnassent

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
turedonne
nousredonnons
vousredonnez