séjourner — French conjugation

to stay, to sojourn

Frequency#1174Regular

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
jeséjourneI stay
tuséjournesyou stay
il/elleséjournehe/she/it stays
nousséjournonswe stay
vousséjournezyou (pl.) stay
ils/ellesséjournentthey stay

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
jeséjournaiI stayed
tuséjournasyou stayed
il/elleséjournahe/she/it stayed
nousséjournâmeswe stayed
vousséjournâtesyou (pl.) stayed
ils/ellesséjournèrentthey stayed

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
jeséjournais
tuséjournais
il/elleséjournait
nousséjournions
vousséjourniez
ils/ellesséjournaient

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
jeséjourneraisI would stay
tuséjourneraisyou would stay
il/elleséjourneraithe/she/it would stay
nousséjournerionswe would stay
vousséjourneriezyou (pl.) would stay
ils/ellesséjourneraientthey would stay

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
jeséjourneraiI will stay
tuséjournerasyou will stay
il/elleséjournerahe/she/it will stay
nousséjourneronswe will stay
vousséjournerezyou (pl.) will stay
ils/ellesséjournerontthey will stay

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 séjournéI have stayed
tutu as séjournéyou have stayed
il/elleil/elle a séjournéhe/she/it has stayed
nousnous avons séjournéwe have stayed
vousvous avez séjournéyou (pl.) have stayed
ils/ellesils/elles ont séjournéthey have stayed

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 séjournéI had stayed
tutu avais séjournéyou had stayed
il/elleil/elle avait séjournéhe/she/it had stayed
nousnous avions séjournéwe had stayed
vousvous aviez séjournéyou (pl.) had stayed
ils/ellesils/elles avaient séjournéthey had stayed

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

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 séjournéI will have stayed
tutu auras séjournéyou will have stayed
il/elleil/elle aura séjournéhe/she/it will have stayed
nousnous aurons séjournéwe will have stayed
vousvous aurez séjournéyou (pl.) will have stayed
ils/ellesils/elles auront séjournéthey will have stayed

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
jeséjourne
tuséjournes
il/elleséjourne
nousséjournions
vousséjourniez
ils/ellesséjournent

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
jeséjournasse
tuséjournasses
il/elleséjournât
nousséjournassions
vousséjournassiez
ils/ellesséjournassent

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
tuséjourne
nousséjournons
vousséjournez