ਲਿਖਤ ਵਿੱਚ ਸਟੈਮ ਬਦਲਦਾ ਹੈ, ਪਰ nous ਅਤੇ vous ਨੂੰ ਛੱਡ ਕੇ ਬਾਕੀ ਰੂਪ ਇੱਕੋ ਜਿਹੇ ਸੁਣਦੇ ਹਨ।
| Person | Presentnow, habits | Passé composécompleted past | Imparfaitongoing past | Futur procheabout to | Futur simplewill |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| je | espèresounds the same as another form in this tense | ai espéré | espéraissounds the same as another form in this tense | vais espérer | espéreraisounds the same as another form in this tense |
| tu | espèressounds the same as another form in this tense | as espérésounds the same as another form in this tense | espéraissounds the same as another form in this tense | vas espérersounds the same as another form in this tense | espérerassounds the same as another form in this tense |
| il/elle | espèresounds the same as another form in this tense | a espérésounds the same as another form in this tense | espéraitsounds the same as another form in this tense | va espérersounds the same as another form in this tense | espérerasounds the same as another form in this tense |
| nous | espérons | avons espéré | espérions | allons espérer | espéreronssounds the same as another form in this tense |
| vous | espérez | avez espéré | espériez | allez espérer | espérerezsounds the same as another form in this tense |
| ils/elles | espèrentsounds the same as another form in this tense | ont espéré | espéraientsounds the same as another form in this tense | vont espérer | espérerontsounds the same as another form in this tense |
Now, and habits. espère covers both "I hope" and "I am hopeing" — French has no separate continuous form.
A completed past action. avoir conjugates and espéré does not — ai espéré.
An ongoing or habitual past. Built on the nous-present stem, so espérons gives you espérais.
About to happen. aller conjugates; espérer never moves — the easier future to produce under pressure.
Will happen. Built on espérer-, which is just the infinitive, so only the endings are new.
Three more forms worth knowing
Not among the five TEF/TCF-scored tenses above, but common past A1–A2.
Passé récentjust happened
| je | viens d'espérer |
|---|---|
| tu | viens d'espérer |
| il/elle | vient d'espérer |
| nous | venons d'espérer |
| vous | venez d'espérer |
| ils/elles | viennent d'espérer |
Impératifcommands — no je/il/ils form
| tu | espère |
|---|---|
| nous | espérons |
| vous | espérez |
Gérondifwhile doing — one invariant form
en espérant
What this table tells you about espérer
The past participle is espéré, and it takes avoir in the passé composé — so it never changes shape, whoever the subject is. No agreement to remember here.
The futur simple is built on espérer-, which is just the infinitive — the endings are the whole story, nothing new to learn for this tense.
In both the present and the imparfait, je, tu, il/elle and ils/elles are one sound: espère, espères, espèrent — indistinguishable spoken. Only nous and vous carry an audible ending.
The imparfait is built on the nous-present stem, so once you know espérons you already know espérais, espérait and espéraient. Futur proche keeps espérer untouched.