régir — French conjugation

to govern

Frequency#1055Regular

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
jerégisI govern
turégisyou govern
il/ellerégithe/she/it governs
nousrégissonswe govern
vousrégissezyou (pl.) govern
ils/ellesrégissentthey govern

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
jerégisI governed
turégisyou governed
il/ellerégithe/she/it governed
nousrégîmeswe governed
vousrégîtesyou (pl.) governed
ils/ellesrégirentthey governed

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
jerégissais
turégissais
il/ellerégissait
nousrégissions
vousrégissiez
ils/ellesrégissaient

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
jerégiraisI would govern
turégiraisyou would govern
il/ellerégiraithe/she/it would govern
nousrégirionswe would govern
vousrégiriezyou (pl.) would govern
ils/ellesrégiraientthey would govern

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
jerégiraiI will govern
turégirasyou will govern
il/ellerégirahe/she/it will govern
nousrégironswe will govern
vousrégirezyou (pl.) will govern
ils/ellesrégirontthey will govern

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 régiI have governed
tutu as régiyou have governed
il/elleil/elle a régihe/she/it has governed
nousnous avons régiwe have governed
vousvous avez régiyou (pl.) have governed
ils/ellesils/elles ont régithey have governed

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 régiI had governed
tutu avais régiyou had governed
il/elleil/elle avait régihe/she/it had governed
nousnous avions régiwe had governed
vousvous aviez régiyou (pl.) had governed
ils/ellesils/elles avaient régithey had governed

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

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 régiI will have governed
tutu auras régiyou will have governed
il/elleil/elle aura régihe/she/it will have governed
nousnous aurons régiwe will have governed
vousvous aurez régiyou (pl.) will have governed
ils/ellesils/elles auront régithey will have governed

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
jerégisse
turégisses
il/ellerégisse
nousrégissions
vousrégissiez
ils/ellesrégissent

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
jerégisse
turégisses
il/ellerégît
nousrégissions
vousrégissiez
ils/ellesrégissent

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
turégis
nousrégissons
vousrégissez