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fluentbyear

FRENCH VERB

récupérer

to get back, to pick up

  • #333 most used
  • Regular -er verb
  • Past participle: récupéré
  • Present participle: récupérant

Conjugation

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

Present

Présent · now, habits and facts

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

Past

Passé composé · finished actions

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

Imperfect

Imparfait · “used to” and “was …ing”

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

Future

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

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

Conditional

Conditionnel · “would”, polite requests

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

Present subjunctive

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

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

Imperative

Impératif · requests and orders

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

How to use récupérer

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

  1. Present

    Je récupère ma fille à la sortie de l'école.

    I'm picking my daughter up from school.

  2. Past

    Tu as récupéré ton sac au bureau des objets trouvés ?

    Did you get your bag back from lost property?

  3. Imperfect

    Après chaque match, il récupérait deux jours au lit.

    After every match, he'd recover for two days in bed.

  4. Future

    On récupérera la voiture au garage jeudi.

    We'll pick the car up from the garage on Thursday.

  5. Conditional

    Avec une bonne nuit, tu récupérerais plus vite.

    With a good night's sleep, you'd recover faster.

  6. Present subjunctive

    Il faut que je récupère mon passeport avant vendredi.

    I need to get my passport back before Friday.

  7. Imperative

    Récupère tes affaires, on part dans cinq minutes.

    Get your things, we're leaving in five minutes.

Good to know

  • Récupérer is also to recover after effort or illness : j'ai besoin de récupérer.

Verbs like this one

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