tacher — French conjugation

to stain

Frequency#620RegularReflexivese tacher — to stain oneself

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
jetacheI stain
tutachesyou stain
il/elletachehe/she/it stains
noustachonswe stain
voustachezyou (pl.) stain
ils/ellestachentthey stain

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
jetachaiI stained
tutachasyou stained
il/elletachahe/she/it stained
noustachâmeswe stained
voustachâtesyou (pl.) stained
ils/ellestachèrentthey stained

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
jetachais
tutachais
il/elletachait
noustachions
voustachiez
ils/ellestachaient

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
jetacheraisI would stain
tutacheraisyou would stain
il/elletacheraithe/she/it would stain
noustacherionswe would stain
voustacheriezyou (pl.) would stain
ils/ellestacheraientthey would stain

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
jetacheraiI will stain
tutacherasyou will stain
il/elletacherahe/she/it will stain
noustacheronswe will stain
voustacherezyou (pl.) will stain
ils/ellestacherontthey will stain

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 tachéI have stained
tutu as tachéyou have stained
il/elleil/elle a tachéhe/she/it has stained
nousnous avons tachéwe have stained
vousvous avez tachéyou (pl.) have stained
ils/ellesils/elles ont tachéthey have stained

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 tachéI had stained
tutu avais tachéyou had stained
il/elleil/elle avait tachéhe/she/it had stained
nousnous avions tachéwe had stained
vousvous aviez tachéyou (pl.) had stained
ils/ellesils/elles avaient tachéthey had stained

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

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 tachéI will have stained
tutu auras tachéyou will have stained
il/elleil/elle aura tachéhe/she/it will have stained
nousnous aurons tachéwe will have stained
vousvous aurez tachéyou (pl.) will have stained
ils/ellesils/elles auront tachéthey will have stained

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
jetache
tutaches
il/elletache
noustachions
voustachiez
ils/ellestachent

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
jetachasse
tutachasses
il/elletachât
noustachassions
voustachassiez
ils/ellestachassent

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
tutache
noustachons
voustachez