répéter — French conjugation

to repeat

Frequency#380IrregularReflexivese répéter — to repeat oneself

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
jerépèteI repeat
turépètesyou repeat
il/ellerépètehe/she/it repeats
nousrépétonswe repeat
vousrépétezyou (pl.) repeat
ils/ellesrépètentthey repeat

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
jerépétaiI repeated
turépétasyou repeated
il/ellerépétahe/she/it repeated
nousrépétâmeswe repeated
vousrépétâtesyou (pl.) repeated
ils/ellesrépétèrentthey repeated

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
jerépétais
turépétais
il/ellerépétait
nousrépétions
vousrépétiez
ils/ellesrépétaient

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
jerépéteraisI would repeat
turépéteraisyou would repeat
il/ellerépéteraithe/she/it would repeat
nousrépéterionswe would repeat
vousrépéteriezyou (pl.) would repeat
ils/ellesrépéteraientthey would repeat

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
jerépéteraiI will repeat
turépéterasyou will repeat
il/ellerépéterahe/she/it will repeat
nousrépéteronswe will repeat
vousrépéterezyou (pl.) will repeat
ils/ellesrépéterontthey will repeat

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 répétéI have repeated
tutu as répétéyou have repeated
il/elleil/elle a répétéhe/she/it has repeated
nousnous avons répétéwe have repeated
vousvous avez répétéyou (pl.) have repeated
ils/ellesils/elles ont répététhey have repeated

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 répétéI had repeated
tutu avais répétéyou had repeated
il/elleil/elle avait répétéhe/she/it had repeated
nousnous avions répétéwe had repeated
vousvous aviez répétéyou (pl.) had repeated
ils/ellesils/elles avaient répététhey had repeated

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

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 répétéI will have repeated
tutu auras répétéyou will have repeated
il/elleil/elle aura répétéhe/she/it will have repeated
nousnous aurons répétéwe will have repeated
vousvous aurez répétéyou (pl.) will have repeated
ils/ellesils/elles auront répététhey will have repeated

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
jerépète
turépètes
il/ellerépète
nousrépétions
vousrépétiez
ils/ellesrépètent

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
jerépétasse
turépétasses
il/ellerépétât
nousrépétassions
vousrépétassiez
ils/ellesrépétassent

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
turépète
nousrépétons
vousrépétez