French Verb Conjugations
| Present | Imperfect | Future | Conditional | Subjunctive | Imperfect subj. | |||
| j’ | aspire | aspirais | aspirerai | aspirerais | aspire | aspirasse | ||
| tu | aspires | aspirais | aspireras | aspirerais | aspires | aspirasses | ||
| il | aspire | aspirait | aspirera | aspirerait | aspire | aspirât | ||
| nous | aspirons | aspirions | aspirerons | aspirerions | aspirions | aspirassions | ||
| vous | aspirez | aspiriez | aspirerez | aspireriez | aspiriez | aspirassiez | ||
| ils | aspirent | aspiraient | aspireront | aspireraient | aspirent | aspirassent | ||
| Passé composé | Past perfect | Future perfect | Past conditional | Past subjunctive | Pluperfect subj. | |||
| j’ | ai aspiré | avais aspiré | aurai aspiré | aurais aspiré | aie aspiré | eusse aspiré | ||
| tu | as aspiré | avais aspiré | auras aspiré | aurais aspiré | aies aspiré | eusses aspiré | ||
| il | a aspiré | avait aspiré | aura aspiré | aurait aspiré | ait aspiré | eût aspiré | ||
| nous | avons aspiré | avions aspiré | aurons aspiré | aurions aspiré | ayons aspiré | eussions aspiré | ||
| vous | avez aspiré | aviez aspiré | aurez aspiré | auriez aspiré | ayez aspiré | eussiez aspiré | ||
| ils | ont aspiré | avaient aspiré | auront aspiré | auraient aspiré | aient aspiré | eussent aspiré | ||
| Passé simple | Past anterior | Imperative | Participles | |||||
| j’ | aspirai | eus aspiré | (tu) | aspire | Present | aspirant | ||
| tu | aspiras | eus aspiré | (nous) | aspirons | Past | aspiré | ||
| il | aspira | eut aspiré | (vous) | aspirez | Perfect | ayant aspiré | ||
| nous | aspirâmes | eûmes aspiré | Past imperative | |||||
| vous | aspirâtes | eûtes aspiré | (tu) | aie aspiré | Past infinitive | |||
| ils | aspirèrent | eurent aspiré | (nous) | ayons aspiré | avoir aspiré | |||
| (vous) | ayez aspiré | |||||||
Aspirer is a regular -er verb.

The passé composé is the most important French past tense, and just to make things interesting, it has three possible English equivalents.


The mountain of French verb conjugations you have to learn can be overwhelming – even just in the classroom where you have plenty of time to think about the correct response. Once you start talking to people in the real world, trying to figure out the appropriate verb conjugation can leave you speechless – literally. So what’s the solution? Learn, then practice, practice, practice!
Inverting subjects and verbs is easy enough – vous voyez => voyez-vous, but where do object, adverbial, and reflexive pronouns go? And what about negation? Take a look at this lesson to learn about all the possibilities.