redoubler — French conjugation

to repeat (a year in school)

Frequency#1379Regular

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
jeredoubleI repeat
turedoublesyou repeat
il/elleredoublehe/she/it repeats
nousredoublonswe repeat
vousredoublezyou (pl.) repeat
ils/ellesredoublentthey repeat

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
jeredoublaiI repeated
turedoublasyou repeated
il/elleredoublahe/she/it repeated
nousredoublâmeswe repeated
vousredoublâtesyou (pl.) repeated
ils/ellesredoublèrentthey repeated

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
jeredoublais
turedoublais
il/elleredoublait
nousredoublions
vousredoubliez
ils/ellesredoublaient

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
jeredoubleraisI would repeat
turedoubleraisyou would repeat
il/elleredoubleraithe/she/it would repeat
nousredoublerionswe would repeat
vousredoubleriezyou (pl.) would repeat
ils/ellesredoubleraientthey would repeat

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
jeredoubleraiI will repeat
turedoublerasyou will repeat
il/elleredoublerahe/she/it will repeat
nousredoubleronswe will repeat
vousredoublerezyou (pl.) will repeat
ils/ellesredoublerontthey will repeat

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 redoubléI have repeated
tutu as redoubléyou have repeated
il/elleil/elle a redoubléhe/she/it has repeated
nousnous avons redoubléwe have repeated
vousvous avez redoubléyou (pl.) have repeated
ils/ellesils/elles ont redoubléthey have repeated

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 redoubléI had repeated
tutu avais redoubléyou had repeated
il/elleil/elle avait redoubléhe/she/it had repeated
nousnous avions redoubléwe had repeated
vousvous aviez redoubléyou (pl.) had repeated
ils/ellesils/elles avaient redoubléthey had repeated

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

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 redoubléI will have repeated
tutu auras redoubléyou will have repeated
il/elleil/elle aura redoubléhe/she/it will have repeated
nousnous aurons redoubléwe will have repeated
vousvous aurez redoubléyou (pl.) will have repeated
ils/ellesils/elles auront redoubléthey will have repeated

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
jeredouble
turedoubles
il/elleredouble
nousredoublions
vousredoubliez
ils/ellesredoublent

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
jeredoublasse
turedoublasses
il/elleredoublât
nousredoublassions
vousredoublassiez
ils/ellesredoublassent

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
turedouble
nousredoublons
vousredoublez