tirer — French conjugation
to pull
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 | tire | I pull |
| tu | tires | you pull |
| il/elle | tire | he/she/it pulls |
| nous | tirons | we pull |
| vous | tirez | you (pl.) pull |
| ils/elles | tirent | they pull |
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 | tirai | I pulled |
| tu | tiras | you pulled |
| il/elle | tira | he/she/it pulled |
| nous | tirâmes | we pulled |
| vous | tirâtes | you (pl.) pulled |
| ils/elles | tirèrent | they pulled |
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 | tirais |
| tu | tirais |
| il/elle | tirait |
| nous | tirions |
| vous | tiriez |
| ils/elles | tiraient |
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 | tirerais | I would pull |
| tu | tirerais | you would pull |
| il/elle | tirerait | he/she/it would pull |
| nous | tirerions | we would pull |
| vous | tireriez | you (pl.) would pull |
| ils/elles | tireraient | they would pull |
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 | tirerai | I will pull |
| tu | tireras | you will pull |
| il/elle | tirera | he/she/it will pull |
| nous | tirerons | we will pull |
| vous | tirerez | you (pl.) will pull |
| ils/elles | tireront | they will pull |
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 tiré | I have pulled |
| tu | tu as tiré | you have pulled |
| il/elle | il/elle a tiré | he/she/it has pulled |
| nous | nous avons tiré | we have pulled |
| vous | vous avez tiré | you (pl.) have pulled |
| ils/elles | ils/elles ont tiré | they have pulled |
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 tiré | I had pulled |
| tu | tu avais tiré | you had pulled |
| il/elle | il/elle avait tiré | he/she/it had pulled |
| nous | nous avions tiré | we had pulled |
| vous | vous aviez tiré | you (pl.) had pulled |
| ils/elles | ils/elles avaient tiré | they had pulled |
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 tiré |
| tu | tu aurais tiré |
| il/elle | il/elle aurait tiré |
| nous | nous aurions tiré |
| vous | vous auriez tiré |
| ils/elles | ils/elles auraient tiré |
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 tiré | I will have pulled |
| tu | tu auras tiré | you will have pulled |
| il/elle | il/elle aura tiré | he/she/it will have pulled |
| nous | nous aurons tiré | we will have pulled |
| vous | vous aurez tiré | you (pl.) will have pulled |
| ils/elles | ils/elles auront tiré | they will have pulled |
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 | tire |
| tu | tires |
| il/elle | tire |
| nous | tirions |
| vous | tiriez |
| ils/elles | tirent |
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 | tirasse |
| tu | tirasses |
| il/elle | tirât |
| nous | tirassions |
| vous | tirassiez |
| ils/elles | tirassent |
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 | tire |
| nous | tirons |
| vous | tirez |