French Verb Conjugator
Conjugate French verbs across four tenses and six persons.
Fully irregular forms from a verified table.
| Person | Présent | Imparfait | Futur | Conditionnel |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| je | suis | étais | serai | serais |
| tu | es | étais | seras | serais |
| il/elle | est | était | sera | serait |
| nous | sommes | étions | serons | serions |
| vous | êtes | étiez | serez | seriez |
| ils/elles | sont | étaient | seront | seraient |
To conjugate a regular French verb, drop the -er, -ir, or -re ending for the stem, then add the ending matching the person and tense. For parler, the stem parl- plus the present je ending gives parle (I speak); the futur builds on the full infinitive.
How French conjugation works
French verbs split into three groups by their infinitive ending — -er, -ir, and -re. Drop the ending for the stem, then add the right ending for the person and tense. Two quirks matter: regular -ir verbs insert -iss- in the plural present and throughout the imperfect, and the futur and conditionnel build on the full infinitive (the final -e of -re verbs is dropped first).
Present-tense endings by group
For je, tu, il/elle, nous, vous, ils/elles. The -ir group adds -iss- before the plural endings.
| Group | Present endings |
|---|---|
| -er | e · es · e · ons · ez · ent |
| -ir | is · is · it · issons · issez · issent |
| -re | s · s · — · ons · ez · ent |
Imparfait, futur, conditionnel endings
Imparfait attaches to the stem (-ir uses stem+iss); futur and conditionnel attach to the infinitive.
| Tense | Endings |
|---|---|
| Imparfait | ais · ais · ait · ions · iez · aient |
| Futur | ai · as · a · ons · ez · ont |
| Conditionnel | ais · ais · ait · ions · iez · aient |
Worked example: parler (to speak)
Drop -er to get the stem parl-; for the futur, keep the full infinitive parler-.
- 1 Present. parl + e/es/e/ons/ez/ent → parle, parles, parle, parlons, parlez, parlent.
- 2 Imparfait. parl + ais/ais/ait/ions/iez/aient → parlais, parlais, parlait, parlions, parliez, parlaient.
- 3 Futur. parler + ai/as/a/ons/ez/ont → parlerai, parleras, parlera, parlerons, parlerez, parleront.
- 4 Conditionnel. parler + ais/ais/ait/ions/iez/aient → parlerais, parlerais, parlerait, parlerions, parleriez, parleraient.
Where the rules break down
The big irregulars. Être, avoir, aller, and faire are the workhorses of French and are wildly irregular — they are stored with verified forms rather than generated, along with pouvoir, vouloir, dire, and voir.
The -iss- group. Regular -ir verbs like finir insert -iss- in the plural present (nous finissons) and across the whole imparfait (je finissais). Verbs like partir and dormir do not, so they fall outside the regular pattern.
What is not covered. The passé composé and other compound tenses use avoir/être plus a past participle and are a separate build, as is the subjunctive.
If you are studying more than one Romance language, the closely related Spanish conjugator and Italian conjugator follow the same stem-plus-ending approach.