saler — French conjugation

to salt

Frequency#1057Regular

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
jesaleI salt
tusalesyou salt
il/ellesalehe/she/it salts
noussalonswe salt
voussalezyou (pl.) salt
ils/ellessalentthey salt

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
jesalaiI salted
tusalasyou salted
il/ellesalahe/she/it salted
noussalâmeswe salted
voussalâtesyou (pl.) salted
ils/ellessalèrentthey salted

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
jesalais
tusalais
il/ellesalait
noussalions
voussaliez
ils/ellessalaient

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
jesaleraisI would salt
tusaleraisyou would salt
il/ellesaleraithe/she/it would salt
noussalerionswe would salt
voussaleriezyou (pl.) would salt
ils/ellessaleraientthey would salt

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
jesaleraiI will salt
tusalerasyou will salt
il/ellesalerahe/she/it will salt
noussaleronswe will salt
voussalerezyou (pl.) will salt
ils/ellessalerontthey will salt

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 saléI have salted
tutu as saléyou have salted
il/elleil/elle a saléhe/she/it has salted
nousnous avons saléwe have salted
vousvous avez saléyou (pl.) have salted
ils/ellesils/elles ont saléthey have salted

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 saléI had salted
tutu avais saléyou had salted
il/elleil/elle avait saléhe/she/it had salted
nousnous avions saléwe had salted
vousvous aviez saléyou (pl.) had salted
ils/ellesils/elles avaient saléthey had salted

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

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 saléI will have salted
tutu auras saléyou will have salted
il/elleil/elle aura saléhe/she/it will have salted
nousnous aurons saléwe will have salted
vousvous aurez saléyou (pl.) will have salted
ils/ellesils/elles auront saléthey will have salted

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
jesale
tusales
il/ellesale
noussalions
voussaliez
ils/ellessalent

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
jesalasse
tusalasses
il/ellesalât
noussalassions
voussalassiez
ils/ellessalassent

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
tusale
noussalons
voussalez