saboter — French conjugation

to sabotage

Frequency#690Regular

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
jesaboteI sabotage
tusabotesyou sabotage
il/ellesabotehe/she/it sabotages
noussabotonswe sabotage
voussabotezyou (pl.) sabotage
ils/ellessabotentthey sabotage

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
jesabotaiI sabotaged
tusabotasyou sabotaged
il/ellesabotahe/she/it sabotaged
noussabotâmeswe sabotaged
voussabotâtesyou (pl.) sabotaged
ils/ellessabotèrentthey sabotaged

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
jesabotais
tusabotais
il/ellesabotait
noussabotions
voussabotiez
ils/ellessabotaient

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
jesaboteraisI would sabotage
tusaboteraisyou would sabotage
il/ellesaboteraithe/she/it would sabotage
noussaboterionswe would sabotage
voussaboteriezyou (pl.) would sabotage
ils/ellessaboteraientthey would sabotage

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
jesaboteraiI will sabotage
tusaboterasyou will sabotage
il/ellesaboterahe/she/it will sabotage
noussaboteronswe will sabotage
voussaboterezyou (pl.) will sabotage
ils/ellessaboterontthey will sabotage

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 sabotéI have sabotaged
tutu as sabotéyou have sabotaged
il/elleil/elle a sabotéhe/she/it has sabotaged
nousnous avons sabotéwe have sabotaged
vousvous avez sabotéyou (pl.) have sabotaged
ils/ellesils/elles ont sabotéthey have sabotaged

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 sabotéI had sabotaged
tutu avais sabotéyou had sabotaged
il/elleil/elle avait sabotéhe/she/it had sabotaged
nousnous avions sabotéwe had sabotaged
vousvous aviez sabotéyou (pl.) had sabotaged
ils/ellesils/elles avaient sabotéthey had sabotaged

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

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 sabotéI will have sabotaged
tutu auras sabotéyou will have sabotaged
il/elleil/elle aura sabotéhe/she/it will have sabotaged
nousnous aurons sabotéwe will have sabotaged
vousvous aurez sabotéyou (pl.) will have sabotaged
ils/ellesils/elles auront sabotéthey will have sabotaged

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
jesabote
tusabotes
il/ellesabote
noussabotions
voussabotiez
ils/ellessabotent

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
jesabotasse
tusabotasses
il/ellesabotât
noussabotassions
voussabotassiez
ils/ellessabotassent

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
tusabote
noussabotons
voussabotez