réguler — French conjugation

to regulate

Frequency#38Regular

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
jeréguleI regulate
turégulesyou regulate
il/ellerégulehe/she/it regulates
nousrégulonswe regulate
vousrégulezyou (pl.) regulate
ils/ellesrégulentthey regulate

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
jerégulaiI regulated
turégulasyou regulated
il/ellerégulahe/she/it regulated
nousrégulâmeswe regulated
vousrégulâtesyou (pl.) regulated
ils/ellesrégulèrentthey regulated

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
jerégulais
turégulais
il/ellerégulait
nousrégulions
vousréguliez
ils/ellesrégulaient

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
jeréguleraisI would regulate
turéguleraisyou would regulate
il/elleréguleraithe/she/it would regulate
nousrégulerionswe would regulate
vousréguleriezyou (pl.) would regulate
ils/ellesréguleraientthey would regulate

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
jeréguleraiI will regulate
turégulerasyou will regulate
il/ellerégulerahe/she/it will regulate
nousréguleronswe will regulate
vousrégulerezyou (pl.) will regulate
ils/ellesrégulerontthey will regulate

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 réguléI have regulated
tutu as réguléyou have regulated
il/elleil/elle a réguléhe/she/it has regulated
nousnous avons réguléwe have regulated
vousvous avez réguléyou (pl.) have regulated
ils/ellesils/elles ont réguléthey have regulated

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 réguléI had regulated
tutu avais réguléyou had regulated
il/elleil/elle avait réguléhe/she/it had regulated
nousnous avions réguléwe had regulated
vousvous aviez réguléyou (pl.) had regulated
ils/ellesils/elles avaient réguléthey had regulated

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

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 réguléI will have regulated
tutu auras réguléyou will have regulated
il/elleil/elle aura réguléhe/she/it will have regulated
nousnous aurons réguléwe will have regulated
vousvous aurez réguléyou (pl.) will have regulated
ils/ellesils/elles auront réguléthey will have regulated

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
jerégule
turégules
il/ellerégule
nousrégulions
vousréguliez
ils/ellesrégulent

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
jerégulasse
turégulasses
il/ellerégulât
nousrégulassions
vousrégulassiez
ils/ellesrégulassent

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
turégule
nousrégulons
vousrégulez