tondre — French conjugation

to mow

Frequency#395Regular

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
jetondsI mow
tutondsyou mow
il/elletondhe/she/it mows
noustondonswe mow
voustondezyou (pl.) mow
ils/ellestondentthey mow

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
jetondisI mowed
tutondisyou mowed
il/elletondithe/she/it mowed
noustondîmeswe mowed
voustondîtesyou (pl.) mowed
ils/ellestondirentthey mowed

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
jetondais
tutondais
il/elletondait
noustondions
voustondiez
ils/ellestondaient

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
jetondraisI would mow
tutondraisyou would mow
il/elletondraithe/she/it would mow
noustondrionswe would mow
voustondriezyou (pl.) would mow
ils/ellestondraientthey would mow

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
jetondraiI will mow
tutondrasyou will mow
il/elletondrahe/she/it will mow
noustondronswe will mow
voustondrezyou (pl.) will mow
ils/ellestondrontthey will mow

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 tonduI have mown
tutu as tonduyou have mown
il/elleil/elle a tonduhe/she/it has mown
nousnous avons tonduwe have mown
vousvous avez tonduyou (pl.) have mown
ils/ellesils/elles ont tonduthey have mown

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 tonduI had mown
tutu avais tonduyou had mown
il/elleil/elle avait tonduhe/she/it had mown
nousnous avions tonduwe had mown
vousvous aviez tonduyou (pl.) had mown
ils/ellesils/elles avaient tonduthey had mown

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

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 tonduI will have mown
tutu auras tonduyou will have mown
il/elleil/elle aura tonduhe/she/it will have mown
nousnous aurons tonduwe will have mown
vousvous aurez tonduyou (pl.) will have mown
ils/ellesils/elles auront tonduthey will have mown

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
jetonde
tutondes
il/elletonde
noustondions
voustondiez
ils/ellestondent

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
jetondisse
tutondisses
il/elletondît
noustondissions
voustondissiez
ils/ellestondissent

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
tutonds
noustondons
voustondez