supporter — French conjugation

to support

Frequency#618Regular

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
jesupporteI support
tusupportesyou support
il/ellesupportehe/she/it supports
noussupportonswe support
voussupportezyou (pl.) support
ils/ellessupportentthey support

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
jesupportaiI supported
tusupportasyou supported
il/ellesupportahe/she/it supported
noussupportâmeswe supported
voussupportâtesyou (pl.) supported
ils/ellessupportèrentthey supported

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
jesupportais
tusupportais
il/ellesupportait
noussupportions
voussupportiez
ils/ellessupportaient

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
jesupporteraisI would support
tusupporteraisyou would support
il/ellesupporteraithe/she/it would support
noussupporterionswe would support
voussupporteriezyou (pl.) would support
ils/ellessupporteraientthey would support

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
jesupporteraiI will support
tusupporterasyou will support
il/ellesupporterahe/she/it will support
noussupporteronswe will support
voussupporterezyou (pl.) will support
ils/ellessupporterontthey will support

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 supportéI have supported
tutu as supportéyou have supported
il/elleil/elle a supportéhe/she/it has supported
nousnous avons supportéwe have supported
vousvous avez supportéyou (pl.) have supported
ils/ellesils/elles ont supportéthey have supported

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 supportéI had supported
tutu avais supportéyou had supported
il/elleil/elle avait supportéhe/she/it had supported
nousnous avions supportéwe had supported
vousvous aviez supportéyou (pl.) had supported
ils/ellesils/elles avaient supportéthey had supported

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

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 supportéI will have supported
tutu auras supportéyou will have supported
il/elleil/elle aura supportéhe/she/it will have supported
nousnous aurons supportéwe will have supported
vousvous aurez supportéyou (pl.) will have supported
ils/ellesils/elles auront supportéthey will have supported

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
jesupporte
tusupportes
il/ellesupporte
noussupportions
voussupportiez
ils/ellessupportent

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
jesupportasse
tusupportasses
il/ellesupportât
noussupportassions
voussupportassiez
ils/ellessupportassent

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
tusupporte
noussupportons
voussupportez