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penser: Conjugation

The penser conjugation tables below show how to form the French verb penser according to tense and person. To listen to the pronunciation of a given tense of penser, click on the loudspeaker icon at the bottom of the table. See the notes on the conjugation of penser at the end of this page.

Present	Perfect
je pense tu penses il/elle pense nous pensons vous pensez ils/elles pensent Pronounce these verb forms	j' ai pensé tu as pensé il/elle a pensé nous avons pensé vous avez pensé ils/elles ont pensé Pronounce these verb forms
Imperfect	Pluperfect
je pensais tu pensais il/elle pensait nous pensions vous pensiez ils/elles pensaient Pronounce these verb forms	j' avais pensé tu avais pensé il/elle avait pensé nous avions pensé vous aviez pensé ils/elles avaient pensé Pronounce these verb forms
Future	Future-perfect
je penserai tu penseras il/elle pensera nous penserons vous penserez ils/elles penseront Pronounce these verb forms	j' aurai pensé tu auras pensé il/elle aura pensé nous aurons pensé vous aurez pensé ils/elles auront pensé Pronounce these verb forms
Conditional	Conditional perfect
je penserais tu penserais il/elle penserait nous penserions vous penseriez ils/elles penseraient Pronounce these verb forms	j' aurais pensé tu aurais pensé il/elle aurait pensé nous aurions pensé vous auriez pensé ils/elles auraient pensé Pronounce these verb forms
Present subjunctive	Perfect subjunctive
je pense tu penses il/elle pense nous pensions vous pensiez ils/elles pensent Pronounce these verb forms	j' aie pensé tu aies pensé il/elle ait pensé nous ayons pensé vous ayez pensé ils/elles aient pensé Pronounce these verb forms
Past historic	Past anterior
je pensai tu pensas il/elle pensa nous pensâmes vous pensâtes ils/elles pensèrent Pronounce these verb forms	j' eus pensé tu eus pensé il/elle eut pensé nous eûmes pensé vous eûtes pensé ils/elles eurent pensé Pronounce these verb forms

This verb follows the so-called regular -er verb pattern, the pattern followed by vast majority of verbs of the language, and by practically all new verbs entering the language.

The regular -er pattern has the following defining features:

• No characteristic consonant (contrast, for example, with verbs following the finir or dormir patterns, which have a characteristic -ss- and -m- in all forms but the present tense singular);
• No vowel change in the stem, other than where necessary to respect general patterns of French phonology (e.g. see préférer)²;
• Past participle in -é¹.

1. Outside the regular -er paradigm, only aller, être and naître have past participles ending in -é.
2. Many other verb patterns, except verbs of the finir type plus a few other patterns, have an irregular vowel change, e.g. boire > je bois vs nous buvons. See the grammar section on irregular verb patterns in French for a list of the different vowel changes.