roter — French conjugation

to break

Frequency#288Regular

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
jeroteI break
turotesyou break
il/ellerotehe/she/it breaks
nousrotonswe break
vousrotezyou (pl.) break
ils/ellesrotentthey break

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
jerotaiI broke
turotasyou broke
il/ellerotahe/she/it broke
nousrotâmeswe broke
vousrotâtesyou (pl.) broke
ils/ellesrotèrentthey broke

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
jerotais
turotais
il/ellerotait
nousrotions
vousrotiez
ils/ellesrotaient

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
jeroteraisI would break
turoteraisyou would break
il/elleroteraithe/she/it would break
nousroterionswe would break
vousroteriezyou (pl.) would break
ils/ellesroteraientthey would break

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
jeroteraiI will break
turoterasyou will break
il/elleroterahe/she/it will break
nousroteronswe will break
vousroterezyou (pl.) will break
ils/ellesroterontthey will break

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 rotéI have broken
tutu as rotéyou have broken
il/elleil/elle a rotéhe/she/it has broken
nousnous avons rotéwe have broken
vousvous avez rotéyou (pl.) have broken
ils/ellesils/elles ont rotéthey have broken

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 rotéI had broken
tutu avais rotéyou had broken
il/elleil/elle avait rotéhe/she/it had broken
nousnous avions rotéwe had broken
vousvous aviez rotéyou (pl.) had broken
ils/ellesils/elles avaient rotéthey had broken

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

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 rotéI will have broken
tutu auras rotéyou will have broken
il/elleil/elle aura rotéhe/she/it will have broken
nousnous aurons rotéwe will have broken
vousvous aurez rotéyou (pl.) will have broken
ils/ellesils/elles auront rotéthey will have broken

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
jerote
turotes
il/ellerote
nousrotions
vousrotiez
ils/ellesrotent

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
jerotasse
turotasses
il/ellerotât
nousrotassions
vousrotassiez
ils/ellesrotassent

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
turote
nousrotons
vousrotez