repasser — French conjugation

to iron

Frequency#1054Regular

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
jerepasseI iron
turepassesyou iron
il/ellerepassehe/she/it irons
nousrepassonswe iron
vousrepassezyou (pl.) iron
ils/ellesrepassentthey iron

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
jerepassaiI ironed
turepassasyou ironed
il/ellerepassahe/she/it ironed
nousrepassâmeswe ironed
vousrepassâtesyou (pl.) ironed
ils/ellesrepassèrentthey ironed

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
jerepassais
turepassais
il/ellerepassait
nousrepassions
vousrepassiez
ils/ellesrepassaient

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
jerepasseraisI would iron
turepasseraisyou would iron
il/ellerepasseraithe/she/it would iron
nousrepasserionswe would iron
vousrepasseriezyou (pl.) would iron
ils/ellesrepasseraientthey would iron

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
jerepasseraiI will iron
turepasserasyou will iron
il/ellerepasserahe/she/it will iron
nousrepasseronswe will iron
vousrepasserezyou (pl.) will iron
ils/ellesrepasserontthey will iron

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 repasséI have ironed
tutu as repasséyou have ironed
il/elleil/elle a repasséhe/she/it has ironed
nousnous avons repasséwe have ironed
vousvous avez repasséyou (pl.) have ironed
ils/ellesils/elles ont repasséthey have ironed

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 repasséI had ironed
tutu avais repasséyou had ironed
il/elleil/elle avait repasséhe/she/it had ironed
nousnous avions repasséwe had ironed
vousvous aviez repasséyou (pl.) had ironed
ils/ellesils/elles avaient repasséthey had ironed

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

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 repasséI will have ironed
tutu auras repasséyou will have ironed
il/elleil/elle aura repasséhe/she/it will have ironed
nousnous aurons repasséwe will have ironed
vousvous aurez repasséyou (pl.) will have ironed
ils/ellesils/elles auront repasséthey will have ironed

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
jerepasse
turepasses
il/ellerepasse
nousrepassions
vousrepassiez
ils/ellesrepassent

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
jerepassasse
turepassasses
il/ellerepassât
nousrepassassions
vousrepassassiez
ils/ellesrepassassent

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
turepasse
nousrepassons
vousrepassez