renouveler — French conjugation

to renew

Frequency#815Irregular

Indicative

Present (Présent) Irregular

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
jerenouvelleI renew
turenouvellesyou renew
il/ellerenouvellehe/she/it renews
nousrenouvelonswe renew
vousrenouvelezyou (pl.) renew
ils/ellesrenouvellentthey renew

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
jerenouvelaiI renewed
turenouvelasyou renewed
il/ellerenouvelahe/she/it renewed
nousrenouvelâmeswe renewed
vousrenouvelâtesyou (pl.) renewed
ils/ellesrenouvelèrentthey renewed

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
jerenouvelais
turenouvelais
il/ellerenouvelait
nousrenouvelions
vousrenouveliez
ils/ellesrenouvelaient

Conditional (Conditionnel) Irregular

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
jerenouvelleraisI would renew
turenouvelleraisyou would renew
il/ellerenouvelleraithe/she/it would renew
nousrenouvellerionswe would renew
vousrenouvelleriezyou (pl.) would renew
ils/ellesrenouvelleraientthey would renew

Future (Futur) Irregular

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
jerenouvelleraiI will renew
turenouvellerasyou will renew
il/ellerenouvellerahe/she/it will renew
nousrenouvelleronswe will renew
vousrenouvellerezyou (pl.) will renew
ils/ellesrenouvellerontthey will renew

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 renouveléI have renewed
tutu as renouveléyou have renewed
il/elleil/elle a renouveléhe/she/it has renewed
nousnous avons renouveléwe have renewed
vousvous avez renouveléyou (pl.) have renewed
ils/ellesils/elles ont renouveléthey have renewed

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 renouveléI had renewed
tutu avais renouveléyou had renewed
il/elleil/elle avait renouveléhe/she/it had renewed
nousnous avions renouveléwe had renewed
vousvous aviez renouveléyou (pl.) had renewed
ils/ellesils/elles avaient renouveléthey had renewed

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

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 renouveléI will have renewed
tutu auras renouveléyou will have renewed
il/elleil/elle aura renouveléhe/she/it will have renewed
nousnous aurons renouveléwe will have renewed
vousvous aurez renouveléyou (pl.) will have renewed
ils/ellesils/elles auront renouveléthey will have renewed

Subjunctive

Present subjunctive (Subjonctif présent) Irregular

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
jerenouvelle
turenouvelles
il/ellerenouvelle
nousrenouvelions
vousrenouveliez
ils/ellesrenouvellent

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
jerenouvelasse
turenouvelasses
il/ellerenouvelât
nousrenouvelassions
vousrenouvelassiez
ils/ellesrenouvelassent

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
turenouvelle
nousrenouvelons
vousrenouvelez