Skip to content
fluentbyear

FRENCH VERB

bavarder

to chat

  • #497 most used
  • Regular -er verb
  • Past participle: bavardé
  • Present participle: bavardant

Conjugation

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

Present

Présent · now, habits and facts

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

Past

Passé composé · finished actions

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

Imperfect

Imparfait · “used to” and “was …ing”

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

Future

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

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

Conditional

Conditionnel · “would”, polite requests

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

Present subjunctive

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

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

Imperative

Impératif · requests and orders

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

How to use bavarder

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

  1. Present

    Les voisines bavardent devant l'immeuble tous les matins.

    The neighbours chat outside the building every morning.

  2. Past

    On a bavardé une heure au téléphone, ça fait du bien.

    We chatted for an hour on the phone, it does you good.

  3. Imperfect

    À l'école, je bavardais trop et j'étais puni.

    At school, I chatted too much and got punished.

  4. Future

    On bavardera plus tard, je suis en réunion.

    We'll chat later, I'm in a meeting.

  5. Conditional

    Je bavarderais bien encore, mais mon train part.

    I'd happily chat some more, but my train's leaving.

  6. Present subjunctive

    La prof ne veut pas qu'on bavarde pendant le cours.

    The teacher doesn't want us chatting during the lesson.

  7. Imperative

    Bavardez moins fort, le bébé dort.

    Chat more quietly, the baby's asleep.

Good to know

  • Bavarder is to chat for the pleasure of it; un bavard is a chatterbox.
  • Discuter is a chat with a bit more substance.

Verbs like this one

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