rouvrir — French conjugation

to reopen, to open again

Frequency#769Irregular

Indicative

Present (Présent) Irregular

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
jerouvreI reopen
turouvresyou reopen
il/ellerouvrehe/she/it reopens
nousrouvronswe reopen
vousrouvrezyou (pl.) reopen
ils/ellesrouvrentthey reopen

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
jerouvrisI reopened
turouvrisyou reopened
il/ellerouvrithe/she/it reopened
nousrouvrîmeswe reopened
vousrouvrîtesyou (pl.) reopened
ils/ellesrouvrirentthey reopened

Imperfect (Imparfait) Irregular

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
jerouvrais
turouvrais
il/ellerouvrait
nousrouvrions
vousrouvriez
ils/ellesrouvraient

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
jerouvriraisI would reopen
turouvriraisyou would reopen
il/ellerouvriraithe/she/it would reopen
nousrouvririonswe would reopen
vousrouvririezyou (pl.) would reopen
ils/ellesrouvriraientthey would reopen

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
jerouvriraiI will reopen
turouvrirasyou will reopen
il/ellerouvrirahe/she/it will reopen
nousrouvrironswe will reopen
vousrouvrirezyou (pl.) will reopen
ils/ellesrouvrirontthey will reopen

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 rouvertI have reopened
tutu as rouvertyou have reopened
il/elleil/elle a rouverthe/she/it has reopened
nousnous avons rouvertwe have reopened
vousvous avez rouvertyou (pl.) have reopened
ils/ellesils/elles ont rouvertthey have reopened

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 rouvertI had reopened
tutu avais rouvertyou had reopened
il/elleil/elle avait rouverthe/she/it had reopened
nousnous avions rouvertwe had reopened
vousvous aviez rouvertyou (pl.) had reopened
ils/ellesils/elles avaient rouvertthey had reopened

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

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 rouvertI will have reopened
tutu auras rouvertyou will have reopened
il/elleil/elle aura rouverthe/she/it will have reopened
nousnous aurons rouvertwe will have reopened
vousvous aurez rouvertyou (pl.) will have reopened
ils/ellesils/elles auront rouvertthey will have reopened

Subjunctive

Present subjunctive (Subjonctif présent) Irregular

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
jerouvre
turouvres
il/ellerouvre
nousrouvrions
vousrouvriez
ils/ellesrouvrent

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
jerouvrisse
turouvrisses
il/ellerouvrît
nousrouvrissions
vousrouvrissiez
ils/ellesrouvrissent

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
turouvre
nousrouvrons
vousrouvrez