rôder — French conjugation

to roam

Frequency#804Regular

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
jerôdeI roam
turôdesyou roam
il/ellerôdehe/she/it roams
nousrôdonswe roam
vousrôdezyou (pl.) roam
ils/ellesrôdentthey roam

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
jerôdaiI roamed
turôdasyou roamed
il/ellerôdahe/she/it roamed
nousrôdâmeswe roamed
vousrôdâtesyou (pl.) roamed
ils/ellesrôdèrentthey roamed

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
jerôdais
turôdais
il/ellerôdait
nousrôdions
vousrôdiez
ils/ellesrôdaient

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
jerôderaisI would roam
turôderaisyou would roam
il/ellerôderaithe/she/it would roam
nousrôderionswe would roam
vousrôderiezyou (pl.) would roam
ils/ellesrôderaientthey would roam

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
jerôderaiI will roam
turôderasyou will roam
il/ellerôderahe/she/it will roam
nousrôderonswe will roam
vousrôderezyou (pl.) will roam
ils/ellesrôderontthey will roam

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 rôdéI have roamed
tutu as rôdéyou have roamed
il/elleil/elle a rôdéhe/she/it has roamed
nousnous avons rôdéwe have roamed
vousvous avez rôdéyou (pl.) have roamed
ils/ellesils/elles ont rôdéthey have roamed

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 rôdéI had roamed
tutu avais rôdéyou had roamed
il/elleil/elle avait rôdéhe/she/it had roamed
nousnous avions rôdéwe had roamed
vousvous aviez rôdéyou (pl.) had roamed
ils/ellesils/elles avaient rôdéthey had roamed

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

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 rôdéI will have roamed
tutu auras rôdéyou will have roamed
il/elleil/elle aura rôdéhe/she/it will have roamed
nousnous aurons rôdéwe will have roamed
vousvous aurez rôdéyou (pl.) will have roamed
ils/ellesils/elles auront rôdéthey will have roamed

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
jerôde
turôdes
il/ellerôde
nousrôdions
vousrôdiez
ils/ellesrôdent

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
jerôdasse
turôdasses
il/ellerôdât
nousrôdassions
vousrôdassiez
ils/ellesrôdassent

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
turôde
nousrôdons
vousrôdez