ressembler — French conjugation

to resemble

Frequency#485Regular

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
jeressembleI resemble
turessemblesyou resemble
il/elleressemblehe/she/it resembles
nousressemblonswe resemble
vousressemblezyou (pl.) resemble
ils/ellesressemblentthey resemble

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
jeressemblaiI resembled
turessemblasyou resembled
il/elleressemblahe/she/it resembled
nousressemblâmeswe resembled
vousressemblâtesyou (pl.) resembled
ils/ellesressemblèrentthey resembled

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
jeressemblais
turessemblais
il/elleressemblait
nousressemblions
vousressembliez
ils/ellesressemblaient

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
jeressembleraisI would resemble
turessembleraisyou would resemble
il/elleressembleraithe/she/it would resemble
nousressemblerionswe would resemble
vousressembleriezyou (pl.) would resemble
ils/ellesressembleraientthey would resemble

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
jeressembleraiI will resemble
turessemblerasyou will resemble
il/elleressemblerahe/she/it will resemble
nousressembleronswe will resemble
vousressemblerezyou (pl.) will resemble
ils/ellesressemblerontthey will resemble

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 ressembléI have resembled
tutu as ressembléyou have resembled
il/elleil/elle a ressembléhe/she/it has resembled
nousnous avons ressembléwe have resembled
vousvous avez ressembléyou (pl.) have resembled
ils/ellesils/elles ont ressembléthey have resembled

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 ressembléI had resembled
tutu avais ressembléyou had resembled
il/elleil/elle avait ressembléhe/she/it had resembled
nousnous avions ressembléwe had resembled
vousvous aviez ressembléyou (pl.) had resembled
ils/ellesils/elles avaient ressembléthey had resembled

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

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 ressembléI will have resembled
tutu auras ressembléyou will have resembled
il/elleil/elle aura ressembléhe/she/it will have resembled
nousnous aurons ressembléwe will have resembled
vousvous aurez ressembléyou (pl.) will have resembled
ils/ellesils/elles auront ressembléthey will have resembled

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
jeressemble
turessembles
il/elleressemble
nousressemblions
vousressembliez
ils/ellesressemblent

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
jeressemblasse
turessemblasses
il/elleressemblât
nousressemblassions
vousressemblassiez
ils/ellesressemblassent

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
turessemble
nousressemblons
vousressemblez