trouver — French conjugation
to find
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 | trouve | I find |
| tu | trouves | you find |
| il/elle | trouve | he/she/it finds |
| nous | trouvons | we find |
| vous | trouvez | you (pl.) find |
| ils/elles | trouvent | they find |
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 | trouvai | I found |
| tu | trouvas | you found |
| il/elle | trouva | he/she/it found |
| nous | trouvâmes | we found |
| vous | trouvâtes | you (pl.) found |
| ils/elles | trouvèrent | they found |
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 | trouvais |
| tu | trouvais |
| il/elle | trouvait |
| nous | trouvions |
| vous | trouviez |
| ils/elles | trouvaient |
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 | trouverais | I would find |
| tu | trouverais | you would find |
| il/elle | trouverait | he/she/it would find |
| nous | trouverions | we would find |
| vous | trouveriez | you (pl.) would find |
| ils/elles | trouveraient | they would find |
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 | trouverai | I will find |
| tu | trouveras | you will find |
| il/elle | trouvera | he/she/it will find |
| nous | trouverons | we will find |
| vous | trouverez | you (pl.) will find |
| ils/elles | trouveront | they will find |
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 trouvé | I have found |
| tu | tu as trouvé | you have found |
| il/elle | il/elle a trouvé | he/she/it has found |
| nous | nous avons trouvé | we have found |
| vous | vous avez trouvé | you (pl.) have found |
| ils/elles | ils/elles ont trouvé | they have found |
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 trouvé | I had found |
| tu | tu avais trouvé | you had found |
| il/elle | il/elle avait trouvé | he/she/it had found |
| nous | nous avions trouvé | we had found |
| vous | vous aviez trouvé | you (pl.) had found |
| ils/elles | ils/elles avaient trouvé | they had found |
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 trouvé |
| tu | tu aurais trouvé |
| il/elle | il/elle aurait trouvé |
| nous | nous aurions trouvé |
| vous | vous auriez trouvé |
| ils/elles | ils/elles auraient trouvé |
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 trouvé | I will have found |
| tu | tu auras trouvé | you will have found |
| il/elle | il/elle aura trouvé | he/she/it will have found |
| nous | nous aurons trouvé | we will have found |
| vous | vous aurez trouvé | you (pl.) will have found |
| ils/elles | ils/elles auront trouvé | they will have found |
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 | trouve |
| tu | trouves |
| il/elle | trouve |
| nous | trouvions |
| vous | trouviez |
| ils/elles | trouvent |
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 | trouvasse |
| tu | trouvasses |
| il/elle | trouvât |
| nous | trouvassions |
| vous | trouvassiez |
| ils/elles | trouvassent |
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 | trouve |
| nous | trouvons |
| vous | trouvez |