solder — French conjugation

to pay off

Frequency#579Regular

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
jesoldeI pay off
tusoldesyou pay off
il/ellesoldehe/she/it pays off
noussoldonswe pay off
voussoldezyou (pl.) pay off
ils/ellessoldentthey pay off

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
jesoldaiI paid off
tusoldasyou paid off
il/ellesoldahe/she/it paid off
noussoldâmeswe paid off
voussoldâtesyou (pl.) paid off
ils/ellessoldèrentthey paid off

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
jesoldais
tusoldais
il/ellesoldait
noussoldions
voussoldiez
ils/ellessoldaient

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
jesolderaisI would pay off
tusolderaisyou would pay off
il/ellesolderaithe/she/it would pay off
noussolderionswe would pay off
voussolderiezyou (pl.) would pay off
ils/ellessolderaientthey would pay off

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
jesolderaiI will pay off
tusolderasyou will pay off
il/ellesolderahe/she/it will pay off
noussolderonswe will pay off
voussolderezyou (pl.) will pay off
ils/ellessolderontthey will pay off

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 soldéI have paid off
tutu as soldéyou have paid off
il/elleil/elle a soldéhe/she/it has paid off
nousnous avons soldéwe have paid off
vousvous avez soldéyou (pl.) have paid off
ils/ellesils/elles ont soldéthey have paid off

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 soldéI had paid off
tutu avais soldéyou had paid off
il/elleil/elle avait soldéhe/she/it had paid off
nousnous avions soldéwe had paid off
vousvous aviez soldéyou (pl.) had paid off
ils/ellesils/elles avaient soldéthey had paid off

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

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 soldéI will have paid off
tutu auras soldéyou will have paid off
il/elleil/elle aura soldéhe/she/it will have paid off
nousnous aurons soldéwe will have paid off
vousvous aurez soldéyou (pl.) will have paid off
ils/ellesils/elles auront soldéthey will have paid off

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
jesolde
tusoldes
il/ellesolde
noussoldions
voussoldiez
ils/ellessoldent

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
jesoldasse
tusoldasses
il/ellesoldât
noussoldassions
voussoldassiez
ils/ellessoldassent

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
tusolde
noussoldons
voussoldez