sevrer — French conjugation

to wean

Frequency#79Irregular

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
jesèvreI wean
tusèvresyou wean
il/ellesèvrehe/she/it weans
noussevronswe wean
voussevrezyou (pl.) wean
ils/ellessèvrentthey wean

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
jesevraiI weaned
tusevrasyou weaned
il/ellesevrahe/she/it weaned
noussevrâmeswe weaned
voussevrâtesyou (pl.) weaned
ils/ellessevrèrentthey weaned

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
jesevrais
tusevrais
il/ellesevrait
noussevrions
voussevriez
ils/ellessevraient

Conditional (Conditionnel) Irregular

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
jesèvreraisI would wean
tusèvreraisyou would wean
il/ellesèvreraithe/she/it would wean
noussèvrerionswe would wean
voussèvreriezyou (pl.) would wean
ils/ellessèvreraientthey would wean

Future (Futur) Irregular

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
jesèvreraiI will wean
tusèvrerasyou will wean
il/ellesèvrerahe/she/it will wean
noussèvreronswe will wean
voussèvrerezyou (pl.) will wean
ils/ellessèvrerontthey will wean

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 sevréI have weaned
tutu as sevréyou have weaned
il/elleil/elle a sevréhe/she/it has weaned
nousnous avons sevréwe have weaned
vousvous avez sevréyou (pl.) have weaned
ils/ellesils/elles ont sevréthey have weaned

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 sevréI had weaned
tutu avais sevréyou had weaned
il/elleil/elle avait sevréhe/she/it had weaned
nousnous avions sevréwe had weaned
vousvous aviez sevréyou (pl.) had weaned
ils/ellesils/elles avaient sevréthey had weaned

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

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 sevréI will have weaned
tutu auras sevréyou will have weaned
il/elleil/elle aura sevréhe/she/it will have weaned
nousnous aurons sevréwe will have weaned
vousvous aurez sevréyou (pl.) will have weaned
ils/ellesils/elles auront sevréthey will have weaned

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
jesèvre
tusèvres
il/ellesèvre
noussevrions
voussevriez
ils/ellessèvrent

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
jesevrasse
tusevrasses
il/ellesevrât
noussevrassions
voussevrassiez
ils/ellessevrassent

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
tusèvre
noussevrons
voussevrez