souffler — French conjugation

to blow

Frequency#146Regular

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
jesouffleI blow
tusoufflesyou blow
il/ellesoufflehe/she/it blows
noussoufflonswe blow
voussoufflezyou (pl.) blow
ils/ellessoufflentthey blow

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
jesoufflaiI blew
tusoufflasyou blew
il/ellesoufflahe/she/it blew
noussoufflâmeswe blew
voussoufflâtesyou (pl.) blew
ils/ellessoufflèrentthey blew

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
jesoufflais
tusoufflais
il/ellesoufflait
noussoufflions
voussouffliez
ils/ellessoufflaient

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
jesouffleraisI would blow
tusouffleraisyou would blow
il/ellesouffleraithe/she/it would blow
noussoufflerionswe would blow
voussouffleriezyou (pl.) would blow
ils/ellessouffleraientthey would blow

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
jesouffleraiI will blow
tusoufflerasyou will blow
il/ellesoufflerahe/she/it will blow
noussouffleronswe will blow
voussoufflerezyou (pl.) will blow
ils/ellessoufflerontthey will blow

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 souffléI have blown
tutu as souffléyou have blown
il/elleil/elle a souffléhe/she/it has blown
nousnous avons souffléwe have blown
vousvous avez souffléyou (pl.) have blown
ils/ellesils/elles ont souffléthey have blown

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 souffléI had blown
tutu avais souffléyou had blown
il/elleil/elle avait souffléhe/she/it had blown
nousnous avions souffléwe had blown
vousvous aviez souffléyou (pl.) had blown
ils/ellesils/elles avaient souffléthey had blown

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

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 souffléI will have blown
tutu auras souffléyou will have blown
il/elleil/elle aura souffléhe/she/it will have blown
nousnous aurons souffléwe will have blown
vousvous aurez souffléyou (pl.) will have blown
ils/ellesils/elles auront souffléthey will have blown

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
jesouffle
tusouffles
il/ellesouffle
noussoufflions
voussouffliez
ils/ellessoufflent

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
jesoufflasse
tusoufflasses
il/ellesoufflât
noussoufflassions
voussoufflassiez
ils/ellessoufflassent

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
tusouffle
noussoufflons
voussoufflez