souligner — French conjugation

to underline

Frequency#414Regular

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
jesouligneI underline
tusoulignesyou underline
il/ellesoulignehe/she/it underlines
noussoulignonswe underline
voussoulignezyou (pl.) underline
ils/ellessoulignentthey underline

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
jesoulignaiI underlined
tusoulignasyou underlined
il/ellesoulignahe/she/it underlined
noussoulignâmeswe underlined
voussoulignâtesyou (pl.) underlined
ils/ellessoulignèrentthey underlined

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
jesoulignais
tusoulignais
il/ellesoulignait
noussoulignions
voussouligniez
ils/ellessoulignaient

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
jesouligneraisI would underline
tusouligneraisyou would underline
il/ellesouligneraithe/she/it would underline
noussoulignerionswe would underline
voussouligneriezyou (pl.) would underline
ils/ellessouligneraientthey would underline

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
jesouligneraiI will underline
tusoulignerasyou will underline
il/ellesoulignerahe/she/it will underline
noussouligneronswe will underline
voussoulignerezyou (pl.) will underline
ils/ellessoulignerontthey will underline

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 soulignéI have underlined
tutu as soulignéyou have underlined
il/elleil/elle a soulignéhe/she/it has underlined
nousnous avons soulignéwe have underlined
vousvous avez soulignéyou (pl.) have underlined
ils/ellesils/elles ont soulignéthey have underlined

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 soulignéI had underlined
tutu avais soulignéyou had underlined
il/elleil/elle avait soulignéhe/she/it had underlined
nousnous avions soulignéwe had underlined
vousvous aviez soulignéyou (pl.) had underlined
ils/ellesils/elles avaient soulignéthey had underlined

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

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 soulignéI will have underlined
tutu auras soulignéyou will have underlined
il/elleil/elle aura soulignéhe/she/it will have underlined
nousnous aurons soulignéwe will have underlined
vousvous aurez soulignéyou (pl.) will have underlined
ils/ellesils/elles auront soulignéthey will have underlined

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
jesouligne
tusoulignes
il/ellesouligne
noussoulignions
voussouligniez
ils/ellessoulignent

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
jesoulignasse
tusoulignasses
il/ellesoulignât
noussoulignassions
voussoulignassiez
ils/ellessoulignassent

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
tusouligne
noussoulignons
voussoulignez