rider — French conjugation

to ride

Frequency#509Regular

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
jerideI ride
turidesyou ride
il/elleridehe/she/it rides
nousridonswe ride
vousridezyou (pl.) ride
ils/ellesridentthey ride

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
jeridaiI rode
turidasyou rode
il/elleridahe/she/it rode
nousridâmeswe rode
vousridâtesyou (pl.) rode
ils/ellesridèrentthey rode

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
jeridais
turidais
il/elleridait
nousridions
vousridiez
ils/ellesridaient

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
jerideraisI would ride
turideraisyou would ride
il/ellerideraithe/she/it would ride
nousriderionswe would ride
vousrideriezyou (pl.) would ride
ils/ellesrideraientthey would ride

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
jerideraiI will ride
turiderasyou will ride
il/elleriderahe/she/it will ride
nousrideronswe will ride
vousriderezyou (pl.) will ride
ils/ellesriderontthey will ride

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 ridéI have ridden
tutu as ridéyou have ridden
il/elleil/elle a ridéhe/she/it has ridden
nousnous avons ridéwe have ridden
vousvous avez ridéyou (pl.) have ridden
ils/ellesils/elles ont ridéthey have ridden

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 ridéI had ridden
tutu avais ridéyou had ridden
il/elleil/elle avait ridéhe/she/it had ridden
nousnous avions ridéwe had ridden
vousvous aviez ridéyou (pl.) had ridden
ils/ellesils/elles avaient ridéthey had ridden

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

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 ridéI will have ridden
tutu auras ridéyou will have ridden
il/elleil/elle aura ridéhe/she/it will have ridden
nousnous aurons ridéwe will have ridden
vousvous aurez ridéyou (pl.) will have ridden
ils/ellesils/elles auront ridéthey will have ridden

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
jeride
turides
il/elleride
nousridions
vousridiez
ils/ellesrident

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
jeridasse
turidasses
il/elleridât
nousridassions
vousridassiez
ils/ellesridassent

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
turide
nousridons
vousridez