sucer — French conjugation

to suck

Frequency#550Irregular

Indicative

Present (Présent) Irregular

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
jesuceI suck
tusucesyou suck
il/ellesucehe/she/it sucks
noussuçonswe suck
voussucezyou (pl.) suck
ils/ellessucentthey suck

Simple past (Passé simple) Irregular

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
jesuçaiI sucked
tusuçasyou sucked
il/ellesuçahe/she/it sucked
noussuçâmeswe sucked
voussuçâtesyou (pl.) sucked
ils/ellessucèrentthey sucked

Imperfect (Imparfait) Irregular

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
jesuçais
tusuçais
il/ellesuçait
noussucions
voussuciez
ils/ellessuçaient

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
jesuceraisI would suck
tusuceraisyou would suck
il/ellesuceraithe/she/it would suck
noussucerionswe would suck
voussuceriezyou (pl.) would suck
ils/ellessuceraientthey would suck

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
jesuceraiI will suck
tusucerasyou will suck
il/ellesucerahe/she/it will suck
noussuceronswe will suck
voussucerezyou (pl.) will suck
ils/ellessucerontthey will suck

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 sucéI have sucked
tutu as sucéyou have sucked
il/elleil/elle a sucéhe/she/it has sucked
nousnous avons sucéwe have sucked
vousvous avez sucéyou (pl.) have sucked
ils/ellesils/elles ont sucéthey have sucked

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 sucéI had sucked
tutu avais sucéyou had sucked
il/elleil/elle avait sucéhe/she/it had sucked
nousnous avions sucéwe had sucked
vousvous aviez sucéyou (pl.) had sucked
ils/ellesils/elles avaient sucéthey had sucked

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

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 sucéI will have sucked
tutu auras sucéyou will have sucked
il/elleil/elle aura sucéhe/she/it will have sucked
nousnous aurons sucéwe will have sucked
vousvous aurez sucéyou (pl.) will have sucked
ils/ellesils/elles auront sucéthey will have sucked

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
jesuce
tusuces
il/ellesuce
noussucions
voussuciez
ils/ellessucent

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
jesuçasse
tusuçasses
il/ellesuçât
noussuçassions
voussuçassiez
ils/ellessuçassent

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
tusuce
noussuçons
voussucez