surfer — French conjugation

to surf (on a wave)

Frequency#160Regular

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
jesurfeI surf
tusurfesyou surf
il/ellesurfehe/she/it surfs
noussurfonswe surf
voussurfezyou (pl.) surf
ils/ellessurfentthey surf

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
jesurfaiI surfed
tusurfasyou surfed
il/ellesurfahe/she/it surfed
noussurfâmeswe surfed
voussurfâtesyou (pl.) surfed
ils/ellessurfèrentthey surfed

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
jesurfais
tusurfais
il/ellesurfait
noussurfions
voussurfiez
ils/ellessurfaient

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
jesurferaisI would surf
tusurferaisyou would surf
il/ellesurferaithe/she/it would surf
noussurferionswe would surf
voussurferiezyou (pl.) would surf
ils/ellessurferaientthey would surf

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
jesurferaiI will surf
tusurferasyou will surf
il/ellesurferahe/she/it will surf
noussurferonswe will surf
voussurferezyou (pl.) will surf
ils/ellessurferontthey will surf

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 surféI have surfed
tutu as surféyou have surfed
il/elleil/elle a surféhe/she/it has surfed
nousnous avons surféwe have surfed
vousvous avez surféyou (pl.) have surfed
ils/ellesils/elles ont surféthey have surfed

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 surféI had surfed
tutu avais surféyou had surfed
il/elleil/elle avait surféhe/she/it had surfed
nousnous avions surféwe had surfed
vousvous aviez surféyou (pl.) had surfed
ils/ellesils/elles avaient surféthey had surfed

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

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 surféI will have surfed
tutu auras surféyou will have surfed
il/elleil/elle aura surféhe/she/it will have surfed
nousnous aurons surféwe will have surfed
vousvous aurez surféyou (pl.) will have surfed
ils/ellesils/elles auront surféthey will have surfed

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
jesurfe
tusurfes
il/ellesurfe
noussurfions
voussurfiez
ils/ellessurfent

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
jesurfasse
tusurfasses
il/ellesurfât
noussurfassions
voussurfassiez
ils/ellessurfassent

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
tusurfe
noussurfons
voussurfez