trotter — French conjugation

to trot

Frequency#313Regular

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
jetrotteI trot
tutrottesyou trot
il/elletrottehe/she/it trots
noustrottonswe trot
voustrottezyou (pl.) trot
ils/ellestrottentthey trot

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
jetrottaiI trotted
tutrottasyou trotted
il/elletrottahe/she/it trotted
noustrottâmeswe trotted
voustrottâtesyou (pl.) trotted
ils/ellestrottèrentthey trotted

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
jetrottais
tutrottais
il/elletrottait
noustrottions
voustrottiez
ils/ellestrottaient

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
jetrotteraisI would trot
tutrotteraisyou would trot
il/elletrotteraithe/she/it would trot
noustrotterionswe would trot
voustrotteriezyou (pl.) would trot
ils/ellestrotteraientthey would trot

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
jetrotteraiI will trot
tutrotterasyou will trot
il/elletrotterahe/she/it will trot
noustrotteronswe will trot
voustrotterezyou (pl.) will trot
ils/ellestrotterontthey will trot

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 trottéI have trotted
tutu as trottéyou have trotted
il/elleil/elle a trottéhe/she/it has trotted
nousnous avons trottéwe have trotted
vousvous avez trottéyou (pl.) have trotted
ils/ellesils/elles ont trottéthey have trotted

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 trottéI had trotted
tutu avais trottéyou had trotted
il/elleil/elle avait trottéhe/she/it had trotted
nousnous avions trottéwe had trotted
vousvous aviez trottéyou (pl.) had trotted
ils/ellesils/elles avaient trottéthey had trotted

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

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 trottéI will have trotted
tutu auras trottéyou will have trotted
il/elleil/elle aura trottéhe/she/it will have trotted
nousnous aurons trottéwe will have trotted
vousvous aurez trottéyou (pl.) will have trotted
ils/ellesils/elles auront trottéthey will have trotted

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
jetrotte
tutrottes
il/elletrotte
noustrottions
voustrottiez
ils/ellestrottent

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
jetrottasse
tutrottasses
il/elletrottât
noustrottassions
voustrottassiez
ils/ellestrottassent

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
tutrotte
noustrottons
voustrottez