voyager — French conjugation

to travel

Frequency#94Irregular

Indicative

Present (Présent) Irregular

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
jevoyageI travel
tuvoyagesyou travel
il/ellevoyagehe/she/it travels
nousvoyageonswe travel
vousvoyagezyou (pl.) travel
ils/ellesvoyagentthey travel

Simple past (Passé simple) Irregular

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
jevoyageaiI travelled
tuvoyageasyou travelled
il/ellevoyageahe/she/it travelled
nousvoyageâmeswe travelled
vousvoyageâtesyou (pl.) travelled
ils/ellesvoyagèrentthey travelled

Imperfect (Imparfait) Irregular

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
jevoyageais
tuvoyageais
il/ellevoyageait
nousvoyagions
vousvoyagiez
ils/ellesvoyageaient

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
jevoyageraisI would travel
tuvoyageraisyou would travel
il/ellevoyageraithe/she/it would travel
nousvoyagerionswe would travel
vousvoyageriezyou (pl.) would travel
ils/ellesvoyageraientthey would travel

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
jevoyageraiI will travel
tuvoyagerasyou will travel
il/ellevoyagerahe/she/it will travel
nousvoyageronswe will travel
vousvoyagerezyou (pl.) will travel
ils/ellesvoyagerontthey will travel

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 voyagéI have travelled
tutu as voyagéyou have travelled
il/elleil/elle a voyagéhe/she/it has travelled
nousnous avons voyagéwe have travelled
vousvous avez voyagéyou (pl.) have travelled
ils/ellesils/elles ont voyagéthey have travelled

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 voyagéI had travelled
tutu avais voyagéyou had travelled
il/elleil/elle avait voyagéhe/she/it had travelled
nousnous avions voyagéwe had travelled
vousvous aviez voyagéyou (pl.) had travelled
ils/ellesils/elles avaient voyagéthey had travelled

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

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 voyagéI will have travelled
tutu auras voyagéyou will have travelled
il/elleil/elle aura voyagéhe/she/it will have travelled
nousnous aurons voyagéwe will have travelled
vousvous aurez voyagéyou (pl.) will have travelled
ils/ellesils/elles auront voyagéthey will have travelled

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
jevoyage
tuvoyages
il/ellevoyage
nousvoyagions
vousvoyagiez
ils/ellesvoyagent

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
jevoyageasse
tuvoyageasses
il/ellevoyageât
nousvoyageassions
vousvoyageassiez
ils/ellesvoyageassent

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
tuvoyage
nousvoyageons
vousvoyagez