skier — French conjugation

to ski

Frequency#1458Regular

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
jeskieI ski
tuskiesyou ski
il/elleskiehe/she/it skis
nousskionswe ski
vousskiezyou (pl.) ski
ils/ellesskientthey ski

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
jeskiaiI skied
tuskiasyou skied
il/elleskiahe/she/it skied
nousskiâmeswe skied
vousskiâtesyou (pl.) skied
ils/ellesskièrentthey skied

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
jeskiais
tuskiais
il/elleskiait
nousskiions
vousskiiez
ils/ellesskiaient

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
jeskieraisI would ski
tuskieraisyou would ski
il/elleskieraithe/she/it would ski
nousskierionswe would ski
vousskieriezyou (pl.) would ski
ils/ellesskieraientthey would ski

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
jeskieraiI will ski
tuskierasyou will ski
il/elleskierahe/she/it will ski
nousskieronswe will ski
vousskierezyou (pl.) will ski
ils/ellesskierontthey will ski

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 skiéI have skied
tutu as skiéyou have skied
il/elleil/elle a skiéhe/she/it has skied
nousnous avons skiéwe have skied
vousvous avez skiéyou (pl.) have skied
ils/ellesils/elles ont skiéthey have skied

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 skiéI had skied
tutu avais skiéyou had skied
il/elleil/elle avait skiéhe/she/it had skied
nousnous avions skiéwe had skied
vousvous aviez skiéyou (pl.) had skied
ils/ellesils/elles avaient skiéthey had skied

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

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 skiéI will have skied
tutu auras skiéyou will have skied
il/elleil/elle aura skiéhe/she/it will have skied
nousnous aurons skiéwe will have skied
vousvous aurez skiéyou (pl.) will have skied
ils/ellesils/elles auront skiéthey will have skied

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
jeskie
tuskies
il/elleskie
nousskiions
vousskiiez
ils/ellesskient

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
jeskiasse
tuskiasses
il/elleskiât
nousskiassions
vousskiassiez
ils/ellesskiassent

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
tuskie
nousskions
vousskiez