rouler — French conjugation

to roll

Frequency#205Regular

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
jerouleI roll
turoulesyou roll
il/elleroulehe/she/it rolls
nousroulonswe roll
vousroulezyou (pl.) roll
ils/ellesroulentthey roll

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
jeroulaiI rolled
turoulasyou rolled
il/elleroulahe/she/it rolled
nousroulâmeswe rolled
vousroulâtesyou (pl.) rolled
ils/ellesroulèrentthey rolled

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
jeroulais
turoulais
il/elleroulait
nousroulions
vousrouliez
ils/ellesroulaient

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
jerouleraisI would roll
turouleraisyou would roll
il/ellerouleraithe/she/it would roll
nousroulerionswe would roll
vousrouleriezyou (pl.) would roll
ils/ellesrouleraientthey would roll

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
jerouleraiI will roll
turoulerasyou will roll
il/elleroulerahe/she/it will roll
nousrouleronswe will roll
vousroulerezyou (pl.) will roll
ils/ellesroulerontthey will roll

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 rouléI have rolled
tutu as rouléyou have rolled
il/elleil/elle a rouléhe/she/it has rolled
nousnous avons rouléwe have rolled
vousvous avez rouléyou (pl.) have rolled
ils/ellesils/elles ont rouléthey have rolled

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 rouléI had rolled
tutu avais rouléyou had rolled
il/elleil/elle avait rouléhe/she/it had rolled
nousnous avions rouléwe had rolled
vousvous aviez rouléyou (pl.) had rolled
ils/ellesils/elles avaient rouléthey had rolled

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

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 rouléI will have rolled
tutu auras rouléyou will have rolled
il/elleil/elle aura rouléhe/she/it will have rolled
nousnous aurons rouléwe will have rolled
vousvous aurez rouléyou (pl.) will have rolled
ils/ellesils/elles auront rouléthey will have rolled

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
jeroule
turoules
il/elleroule
nousroulions
vousrouliez
ils/ellesroulent

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
jeroulasse
turoulasses
il/elleroulât
nousroulassions
vousroulassiez
ils/ellesroulassent

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
turoule
nousroulons
vousroulez