repentir — French conjugation

to repent

Frequency#863IrregularReflexivese repentir — to repent (se repentir de)

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
jerepensI repent
turepensyou repent
il/ellerepenthe/she/it repents
nousrepentonswe repent
vousrepentezyou (pl.) repent
ils/ellesrepententthey repent

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
jerepentisI repented
turepentisyou repented
il/ellerepentithe/she/it repented
nousrepentîmeswe repented
vousrepentîtesyou (pl.) repented
ils/ellesrepentirentthey repented

Imperfect (Imparfait) Irregular

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
jerepentais
turepentais
il/ellerepentait
nousrepentions
vousrepentiez
ils/ellesrepentaient

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
jerepentiraisI would repent
turepentiraisyou would repent
il/ellerepentiraithe/she/it would repent
nousrepentirionswe would repent
vousrepentiriezyou (pl.) would repent
ils/ellesrepentiraientthey would repent

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
jerepentiraiI will repent
turepentirasyou will repent
il/ellerepentirahe/she/it will repent
nousrepentironswe will repent
vousrepentirezyou (pl.) will repent
ils/ellesrepentirontthey will repent

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 repentiI have repented
tutu as repentiyou have repented
il/elleil/elle a repentihe/she/it has repented
nousnous avons repentiwe have repented
vousvous avez repentiyou (pl.) have repented
ils/ellesils/elles ont repentithey have repented

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 repentiI had repented
tutu avais repentiyou had repented
il/elleil/elle avait repentihe/she/it had repented
nousnous avions repentiwe had repented
vousvous aviez repentiyou (pl.) had repented
ils/ellesils/elles avaient repentithey had repented

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

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 repentiI will have repented
tutu auras repentiyou will have repented
il/elleil/elle aura repentihe/she/it will have repented
nousnous aurons repentiwe will have repented
vousvous aurez repentiyou (pl.) will have repented
ils/ellesils/elles auront repentithey will have repented

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
jerepente
turepentes
il/ellerepente
nousrepentions
vousrepentiez
ils/ellesrepentent

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
jerepentisse
turepentisses
il/ellerepentît
nousrepentissions
vousrepentissiez
ils/ellesrepentissent

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
turepens
nousrepentons
vousrepentez