Skip to content
fluentbyear

FRENCH VERB

agir

to act

  • #479 most used
  • Regular -ir verb
  • Past participle: agi
  • Present participle: agissant

Conjugation

Tap any form to hear it. The part that changes is in colour.

Present

Présent · now, habits and facts

  1. je I act
  2. tu you act
  3. il, elle, on he/she acts
  4. nous we act
  5. vous you act
  6. ils, elles they act

Past

Passé composé · finished actions

  1. je I acted
  2. tu you acted
  3. il, elle, on he/she acted
  4. nous we acted
  5. vous you acted
  6. ils, elles they acted

Imperfect

Imparfait · “used to” and “was …ing”

  1. je I used to act
  2. tu you used to act
  3. il, elle, on he/she used to act
  4. nous we used to act
  5. vous you used to act
  6. ils, elles they used to act

Future

Futur simple · plans; in speech, “je vais parler” is just as common

  1. je I will act
  2. tu you will act
  3. il, elle, on he/she will act
  4. nous we will act
  5. vous you will act
  6. ils, elles they will act

Conditional

Conditionnel · “would”, polite requests

  1. je I would act
  2. tu you would act
  3. il, elle, on he/she would act
  4. nous we would act
  5. vous you would act
  6. ils, elles they would act

Present subjunctive

Subjonctif présent · wishes, doubts, “il faut que …”

  1. je (that) I act
  2. tu (that) you act
  3. il, elle, on (that) he/she act
  4. nous (that) we act
  5. vous (that) you act
  6. ils, elles (that) they act

Imperative

Impératif · requests and orders

  1. tu act!
  2. nous act! (let’s)
  3. vous act! (plural, or formal)

How to use agir

One sentence for each tense, the way people say it.

  1. Present

    Il agit toujours sans réfléchir, ça m'inquiète.

    He always acts without thinking, it worries me.

  2. Past

    Les pompiers ont agi très vite, heureusement.

    The firefighters acted very quickly, luckily.

  3. Imperfect

    Elle agissait comme si de rien n'était.

    She acted as if nothing had happened.

  4. Future

    Le médicament agira au bout d'une demi-heure.

    The medicine will take effect after half an hour.

  5. Conditional

    Comment tu agirais à ma place ?

    How would you act in my shoes?

  6. Present subjunctive

    Il est temps que la mairie agisse contre le bruit.

    It's time the town hall did something about the noise.

  7. Imperative

    Agissez maintenant, demain il sera trop tard.

    Act now, tomorrow it will be too late.

Good to know

  • Il s'agit de means it is about : de quoi s'agit-il ? what is it about?

Verbs like this one

The same pattern, on other verbs: regular -ir verb.