survoler — French conjugation
to fly over
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.
| Pronoun | French | English |
|---|---|---|
| je | survole | I fly over |
| tu | survoles | you fly over |
| il/elle | survole | he/she/it flies over |
| nous | survolons | we fly over |
| vous | survolez | you (pl.) fly over |
| ils/elles | survolent | they fly over |
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.
| Pronoun | French | English |
|---|---|---|
| je | survolai | I flew over |
| tu | survolas | you flew over |
| il/elle | survola | he/she/it flew over |
| nous | survolâmes | we flew over |
| vous | survolâtes | you (pl.) flew over |
| ils/elles | survolèrent | they flew over |
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.
| Pronoun | French |
|---|---|
| je | survolais |
| tu | survolais |
| il/elle | survolait |
| nous | survolions |
| vous | survoliez |
| ils/elles | survolaient |
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 ?
| Pronoun | French | English |
|---|---|---|
| je | survolerais | I would fly over |
| tu | survolerais | you would fly over |
| il/elle | survolerait | he/she/it would fly over |
| nous | survolerions | we would fly over |
| vous | survoleriez | you (pl.) would fly over |
| ils/elles | survoleraient | they would fly over |
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.
| Pronoun | French | English |
|---|---|---|
| je | survolerai | I will fly over |
| tu | survoleras | you will fly over |
| il/elle | survolera | he/she/it will fly over |
| nous | survolerons | we will fly over |
| vous | survolerez | you (pl.) will fly over |
| ils/elles | survoleront | they will fly over |
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.
| Pronoun | French | English |
|---|---|---|
| je | j'ai survolé | I have flown over |
| tu | tu as survolé | you have flown over |
| il/elle | il/elle a survolé | he/she/it has flown over |
| nous | nous avons survolé | we have flown over |
| vous | vous avez survolé | you (pl.) have flown over |
| ils/elles | ils/elles ont survolé | they have flown over |
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.
| Pronoun | French | English |
|---|---|---|
| je | j'avais survolé | I had flown over |
| tu | tu avais survolé | you had flown over |
| il/elle | il/elle avait survolé | he/she/it had flown over |
| nous | nous avions survolé | we had flown over |
| vous | vous aviez survolé | you (pl.) had flown over |
| ils/elles | ils/elles avaient survolé | they had flown over |
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.
| Pronoun | French |
|---|---|
| je | j'aurais survolé |
| tu | tu aurais survolé |
| il/elle | il/elle aurait survolé |
| nous | nous aurions survolé |
| vous | vous auriez survolé |
| ils/elles | ils/elles auraient survolé |
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.
| Pronoun | French | English |
|---|---|---|
| je | j'aurai survolé | I will have flown over |
| tu | tu auras survolé | you will have flown over |
| il/elle | il/elle aura survolé | he/she/it will have flown over |
| nous | nous aurons survolé | we will have flown over |
| vous | vous aurez survolé | you (pl.) will have flown over |
| ils/elles | ils/elles auront survolé | they will have flown over |
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.
| Pronoun | French |
|---|---|
| je | survole |
| tu | survoles |
| il/elle | survole |
| nous | survolions |
| vous | survoliez |
| ils/elles | survolent |
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.
| Pronoun | French |
|---|---|
| je | survolasse |
| tu | survolasses |
| il/elle | survolât |
| nous | survolassions |
| vous | survolassiez |
| ils/elles | survolassent |
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 !
| Pronoun | French |
|---|---|
| tu | survole |
| nous | survolons |
| vous | survolez |