réveiller — French conjugation

to wake up

Frequency#120RegularReflexivese réveiller — to wake up

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
jeréveilleI wake up
turéveillesyou wake up
il/elleréveillehe/she/it wakes up
nousréveillonswe wake up
vousréveillezyou (pl.) wake up
ils/ellesréveillentthey wake up

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
jeréveillaiI woke up
turéveillasyou woke up
il/elleréveillahe/she/it woke up
nousréveillâmeswe woke up
vousréveillâtesyou (pl.) woke up
ils/ellesréveillèrentthey woke up

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
jeréveillais
turéveillais
il/elleréveillait
nousréveillions
vousréveilliez
ils/ellesréveillaient

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
jeréveilleraisI would wake up
turéveilleraisyou would wake up
il/elleréveilleraithe/she/it would wake up
nousréveillerionswe would wake up
vousréveilleriezyou (pl.) would wake up
ils/ellesréveilleraientthey would wake up

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
jeréveilleraiI will wake up
turéveillerasyou will wake up
il/elleréveillerahe/she/it will wake up
nousréveilleronswe will wake up
vousréveillerezyou (pl.) will wake up
ils/ellesréveillerontthey will wake up

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 réveilléI have woken up
tutu as réveilléyou have woken up
il/elleil/elle a réveilléhe/she/it has woken up
nousnous avons réveilléwe have woken up
vousvous avez réveilléyou (pl.) have woken up
ils/ellesils/elles ont réveilléthey have woken up

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 réveilléI had woken up
tutu avais réveilléyou had woken up
il/elleil/elle avait réveilléhe/she/it had woken up
nousnous avions réveilléwe had woken up
vousvous aviez réveilléyou (pl.) had woken up
ils/ellesils/elles avaient réveilléthey had woken up

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

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 réveilléI will have woken up
tutu auras réveilléyou will have woken up
il/elleil/elle aura réveilléhe/she/it will have woken up
nousnous aurons réveilléwe will have woken up
vousvous aurez réveilléyou (pl.) will have woken up
ils/ellesils/elles auront réveilléthey will have woken up

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
jeréveille
turéveilles
il/elleréveille
nousréveillions
vousréveilliez
ils/ellesréveillent

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
jeréveillasse
turéveillasses
il/elleréveillât
nousréveillassions
vousréveillassiez
ils/ellesréveillassent

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
turéveille
nousréveillons
vousréveillez