French Verb Conjugations
| Present | Imperfect | Future | Conditional | Subjunctive | Imperfect subj. | |||
| j’ | emballe | emballais | emballerai | emballerais | emballe | emballasse | ||
| tu | emballes | emballais | emballeras | emballerais | emballes | emballasses | ||
| il | emballe | emballait | emballera | emballerait | emballe | emballât | ||
| nous | emballons | emballions | emballerons | emballerions | emballions | emballassions | ||
| vous | emballez | emballiez | emballerez | emballeriez | emballiez | emballassiez | ||
| ils | emballent | emballaient | emballeront | emballeraient | emballent | emballassent | ||
| Passé composé | Past perfect | Future perfect | Past conditional | Past subjunctive | Pluperfect subj. | |||
| j’ | ai emballé | avais emballé | aurai emballé | aurais emballé | aie emballé | eusse emballé | ||
| tu | as emballé | avais emballé | auras emballé | aurais emballé | aies emballé | eusses emballé | ||
| il | a emballé | avait emballé | aura emballé | aurait emballé | ait emballé | eût emballé | ||
| nous | avons emballé | avions emballé | aurons emballé | aurions emballé | ayons emballé | eussions emballé | ||
| vous | avez emballé | aviez emballé | aurez emballé | auriez emballé | ayez emballé | eussiez emballé | ||
| ils | ont emballé | avaient emballé | auront emballé | auraient emballé | aient emballé | eussent emballé | ||
| Passé simple | Past anterior | Imperative | Participles | |||||
| j’ | emballai | eus emballé | (tu) | emballe | Present | emballant | ||
| tu | emballas | eus emballé | (nous) | emballons | Past | emballé | ||
| il | emballa | eut emballé | (vous) | emballez | Perfect | ayant emballé | ||
| nous | emballâmes | eûmes emballé | Past imperative | |||||
| vous | emballâtes | eûtes emballé | (tu) | aie emballé | Past infinitive | |||
| ils | emballèrent | eurent emballé | (nous) | ayons emballé | avoir emballé | |||
| (vous) | ayez emballé | |||||||
Emballer 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.