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FRENCH VERB

répondre

to answer

  • #40 most used
  • Regular -re verb
  • Past participle: répondu
  • Present participle: répondant

Conjugation

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

Present

Présent · now, habits and facts

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

Past

Passé composé · finished actions

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

Imperfect

Imparfait · “used to” and “was …ing”

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

Future

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

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

Conditional

Conditionnel · “would”, polite requests

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

Present subjunctive

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

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

Imperative

Impératif · requests and orders

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

How to use répondre

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

  1. Present

    Il ne répond jamais au téléphone le dimanche.

    He never answers the phone on Sundays.

  2. Past

    J'ai répondu à ton message ce matin.

    I replied to your message this morning.

  3. Imperfect

    Elle répondait toujours à mes mails en cinq minutes.

    She always answered my emails within five minutes.

  4. Future

    Je vous répondrai avant la fin de la semaine.

    I'll get back to you before the end of the week.

  5. Conditional

    À ta place, je ne répondrais pas à ce numéro.

    If I were you, I wouldn't answer that number.

  6. Present subjunctive

    J'attends que le propriétaire réponde pour réserver.

    I'm waiting for the owner to reply before booking.

  7. Imperative

    Réponds-moi franchement : tu aimes ou pas ?

    Answer me honestly: do you like it or not?

Good to know

  • Répondre à quelqu'un, à une question, à un message : always with à.

Verbs like this one

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