tourmenter — French conjugation

to torment, to torture

Frequency#2054Regular

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
jetourmenteI torment
tutourmentesyou torment
il/elletourmentehe/she/it torments
noustourmentonswe torment
voustourmentezyou (pl.) torment
ils/ellestourmententthey torment

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
jetourmentaiI tormented
tutourmentasyou tormented
il/elletourmentahe/she/it tormented
noustourmentâmeswe tormented
voustourmentâtesyou (pl.) tormented
ils/ellestourmentèrentthey tormented

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
jetourmentais
tutourmentais
il/elletourmentait
noustourmentions
voustourmentiez
ils/ellestourmentaient

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
jetourmenteraisI would torment
tutourmenteraisyou would torment
il/elletourmenteraithe/she/it would torment
noustourmenterionswe would torment
voustourmenteriezyou (pl.) would torment
ils/ellestourmenteraientthey would torment

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
jetourmenteraiI will torment
tutourmenterasyou will torment
il/elletourmenterahe/she/it will torment
noustourmenteronswe will torment
voustourmenterezyou (pl.) will torment
ils/ellestourmenterontthey will torment

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 tourmentéI have tormented
tutu as tourmentéyou have tormented
il/elleil/elle a tourmentéhe/she/it has tormented
nousnous avons tourmentéwe have tormented
vousvous avez tourmentéyou (pl.) have tormented
ils/ellesils/elles ont tourmentéthey have tormented

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 tourmentéI had tormented
tutu avais tourmentéyou had tormented
il/elleil/elle avait tourmentéhe/she/it had tormented
nousnous avions tourmentéwe had tormented
vousvous aviez tourmentéyou (pl.) had tormented
ils/ellesils/elles avaient tourmentéthey had tormented

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

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 tourmentéI will have tormented
tutu auras tourmentéyou will have tormented
il/elleil/elle aura tourmentéhe/she/it will have tormented
nousnous aurons tourmentéwe will have tormented
vousvous aurez tourmentéyou (pl.) will have tormented
ils/ellesils/elles auront tourmentéthey will have tormented

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
jetourmente
tutourmentes
il/elletourmente
noustourmentions
voustourmentiez
ils/ellestourmentent

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
jetourmentasse
tutourmentasses
il/elletourmentât
noustourmentassions
voustourmentassiez
ils/ellestourmentassent

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
tutourmente
noustourmentons
voustourmentez