tordre — French conjugation

to twist; to bend

Frequency#465RegularReflexivese tordre — to twist 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
jetordsI twist
tutordsyou twist
il/elletordhe/she/it twists
noustordonswe twist
voustordezyou (pl.) twist
ils/ellestordentthey twist

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
jetordisI twisted
tutordisyou twisted
il/elletordithe/she/it twisted
noustordîmeswe twisted
voustordîtesyou (pl.) twisted
ils/ellestordirentthey twisted

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
jetordais
tutordais
il/elletordait
noustordions
voustordiez
ils/ellestordaient

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
jetordraisI would twist
tutordraisyou would twist
il/elletordraithe/she/it would twist
noustordrionswe would twist
voustordriezyou (pl.) would twist
ils/ellestordraientthey would twist

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
jetordraiI will twist
tutordrasyou will twist
il/elletordrahe/she/it will twist
noustordronswe will twist
voustordrezyou (pl.) will twist
ils/ellestordrontthey will twist

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 torduI have twisted
tutu as torduyou have twisted
il/elleil/elle a torduhe/she/it has twisted
nousnous avons torduwe have twisted
vousvous avez torduyou (pl.) have twisted
ils/ellesils/elles ont torduthey have twisted

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 torduI had twisted
tutu avais torduyou had twisted
il/elleil/elle avait torduhe/she/it had twisted
nousnous avions torduwe had twisted
vousvous aviez torduyou (pl.) had twisted
ils/ellesils/elles avaient torduthey had twisted

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

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 torduI will have twisted
tutu auras torduyou will have twisted
il/elleil/elle aura torduhe/she/it will have twisted
nousnous aurons torduwe will have twisted
vousvous aurez torduyou (pl.) will have twisted
ils/ellesils/elles auront torduthey will have twisted

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
jetorde
tutordes
il/elletorde
noustordions
voustordiez
ils/ellestordent

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
jetordisse
tutordisses
il/elletordît
noustordissions
voustordissiez
ils/ellestordissent

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
tutords
noustordons
voustordez