soigner — French conjugation

to care for

Frequency#278RegularReflexivese soigner — to take care of oneself

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
jesoigneI care for
tusoignesyou care for
il/ellesoignehe/she/it cares for
noussoignonswe care for
voussoignezyou (pl.) care for
ils/ellessoignentthey care for

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
jesoignaiI cared for
tusoignasyou cared for
il/ellesoignahe/she/it cared for
noussoignâmeswe cared for
voussoignâtesyou (pl.) cared for
ils/ellessoignèrentthey cared for

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
jesoignais
tusoignais
il/ellesoignait
noussoignions
voussoigniez
ils/ellessoignaient

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
jesoigneraisI would care for
tusoigneraisyou would care for
il/ellesoigneraithe/she/it would care for
noussoignerionswe would care for
voussoigneriezyou (pl.) would care for
ils/ellessoigneraientthey would care for

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
jesoigneraiI will care for
tusoignerasyou will care for
il/ellesoignerahe/she/it will care for
noussoigneronswe will care for
voussoignerezyou (pl.) will care for
ils/ellessoignerontthey will care for

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 soignéI have cared for
tutu as soignéyou have cared for
il/elleil/elle a soignéhe/she/it has cared for
nousnous avons soignéwe have cared for
vousvous avez soignéyou (pl.) have cared for
ils/ellesils/elles ont soignéthey have cared for

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 soignéI had cared for
tutu avais soignéyou had cared for
il/elleil/elle avait soignéhe/she/it had cared for
nousnous avions soignéwe had cared for
vousvous aviez soignéyou (pl.) had cared for
ils/ellesils/elles avaient soignéthey had cared for

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

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 soignéI will have cared for
tutu auras soignéyou will have cared for
il/elleil/elle aura soignéhe/she/it will have cared for
nousnous aurons soignéwe will have cared for
vousvous aurez soignéyou (pl.) will have cared for
ils/ellesils/elles auront soignéthey will have cared for

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
jesoigne
tusoignes
il/ellesoigne
noussoignions
voussoigniez
ils/ellessoignent

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
jesoignasse
tusoignasses
il/ellesoignât
noussoignassions
voussoignassiez
ils/ellessoignassent

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
tusoigne
noussoignons
voussoignez