How to Conjugate the French Verb Répondre (to Answer)

The French verb  rà ©pondre  means to answer. Its a very useful addition to your French vocabulary and one that you probably hear often from your teacher. In order to use it correctly in sentences, though, youll want to know how to conjugate it. This helps you say things like I am answering and we answered. This French lesson will help you learn the basic conjugations youll need. The Basic Conjugations of  Rà ©pondre French verb conjugations are very similar to English. Where we add endings like -ing and -ed to indicate the present or past tense, French adds a variety of endings that match the subject pronoun as well. This does make it a bit more complicated, but it gets easier with each new verb you study. Rà ©pondre  is a  regular -re verb, meaning it follows the same conjugation patterns as other verbs that end in -re. To begin, you must identify the verb stem (or radical), which is  rà ©pond-. Since it is similar to  respond and that means the same thing as answer in English, this one can be a little easier to remember. Using the chart, you can study the various endings that are added to the stem to form the most basic and useful forms of rà ©pondre. Simply match up the subject pronoun with the tense that is appropriate for your sentence. For example, I am answering is  je rà ©ponds  and we will answer is  nous rà ©pondrons. Present Future Imperfect je rponds rpondrai rpondais tu rponds rpondras rpondais il rpond rpondra rpondait nous rpondons rpondrons rpondions vous rpondez rpondrez rpondiez ils rpondent rpondront rpondaient The Present Participle of  Rà ©pondre The  present participle  for regular French verbs is formed by adding -ant  to the verb stem. For  rà ©pondre,  that results in  rà ©pondant. Rà ©pondre  in the Compound Past Tense The only compound past tense well study in this lesson is the passà © composà © as it is used most often. Its an alternative to the imperfect and requires the use of the auxiliary verb avoir and the past participle rà ©pondu. This one is relatively easy because the only conjugations you have to remember are the present tenses of  avoir. Conjugate that to match the subject, then attach the past participle, which indicates that the action already took place. For example, I answered is  jai rà ©pondu  and we answered is  nous avons rà ©pondu. More Simple Conjugations of  Rà ©pondre Its a good idea to commit the conjugations of  rà ©pondre  above  to memory first. Once you learn those, consider adding a few more simple forms to your vocabulary because they can be quite useful. For instance, when the action of answering may or may not happen, you can use the subjunctive. The conditional implies that someone will answer only if something else happens. In formal French, you may encounter either the passà © simple  or  the imperfect subjunctive, though these are rare and arent necessarily a priority. Subjunctive Conditional Pass Simple Imperfect Subjunctive je rponde rpondrais rpondis rpondisse tu rpondes rpondrais rpondis rpondisses il rponde rpondrait rpondit rpondt nous rpondions rpondrions rpondmes rpondissions vous rpondiez rpondriez rpondtes rpondissiez ils rpondent rpondraient rpondirent rpondissent Very useful for  rà ©pondre,  the imperative  form  allows you to be assertive for demands such as Answer! When using it, skip the formalities and leave out the subject pronoun, simplifying it to, Rà ©ponds ! Imperative (tu) rponds (nous) rpondons (vous) rpondez