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FRENCH VERB

surprendre

to surprise

  • #473 most used
  • Irregular -re verb
  • Past participle: surpris
  • Present participle: surprenant

Conjugation

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

Present

Présent · now, habits and facts

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

Past

Passé composé · finished actions

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

Imperfect

Imparfait · “used to” and “was …ing”

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

Future

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

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

Conditional

Conditionnel · “would”, polite requests

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

Present subjunctive

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

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

Imperative

Impératif · requests and orders

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

How to use surprendre

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

  1. Present

    Tu me surprends, je te croyais timide.

    You surprise me, I thought you were shy.

  2. Past

    L'orage nous a surpris en pleine randonnée.

    The storm caught us in the middle of our hike.

  3. Imperfect

    Sa générosité surprenait tous ceux qui le rencontraient.

    His generosity surprised everyone who met him.

  4. Future

    Le prix du menu te surprendra, c'est très raisonnable.

    The price of the set menu will surprise you, it's very reasonable.

  5. Conditional

    Ça me surprendrait qu'il arrive à l'heure.

    I'd be surprised if he arrived on time.

  6. Present subjunctive

    Il est normal que la nouvelle vous surprenne.

    It's natural that the news should surprise you.

  7. Imperative

    Surprends-la avec des fleurs, elle adore ça.

    Surprise her with flowers, she loves that.

Good to know

  • Ça me surprend is that surprises me; ça ne me surprend pas, I'm not surprised.

Verbs like this one

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