inspirer: conjugation and meaning · How to Learn French

Conjugations

All six tenses and their examples are shown below. Use the links above to jump to a tense. English translations use the meaning “to breathe in.”

Present Présent

Habits, current states, and actions happening now.

inspirer: Present, with English translations
Subject	French	English
je / j’	inspire	I breathe in
tu	inspires	you breathe in
il / elle / on	inspire	he / she / it breathes inon: we breathe in / one breathes in
nous	inspirons	we breathe in
vous	inspirez	you breathe in
ils / elles	inspirent	they breathe in

IN A SENTENCEPresent example

Paul inspire lentement par le nez.

Paul breathes in slowly through his nose.

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Passé composé

Completed past events, using avoir or être plus a past participle.

inspirer: Passé composé, with English translations
Subject	French	English
je / j’	ai inspiré	I breathed in
tu	as inspiré	you breathed in
il / elle / on	a inspiré	he / she / it breathed inon: we breathed in / one breathed in
nous	avons inspiré	we breathed in
vous	avez inspiré	you breathed in
ils / elles	ont inspiré	they breathed in

IN A SENTENCEPassé composé example

Hier, Paul a inspiré lentement par le nez.

Yesterday, Paul breathed in slowly through his nose.

The passé composé uses avoir. The table shows the unmarked participle; agreement with a preceding direct object is outside this reference.

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Imperfect Imparfait

Past habits, descriptions, and actions in progress.

inspirer: Imperfect, with English translations
Subject	French	English
je / j’	inspirais	I used to breathe in
tu	inspirais	you used to breathe in
il / elle / on	inspirait	he / she / it used to breathe inon: we used to breathe in / one used to breathe in
nous	inspirions	we used to breathe in
vous	inspiriez	you used to breathe in
ils / elles	inspiraient	they used to breathe in

IN A SENTENCEImperfect example

Autrefois, Paul inspirait lentement par le nez.

Back then, Paul used to breathe in slowly through his nose.

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Future Futur simple

Future events and predictions.

inspirer: Future, with English translations
Subject	French	English
je / j’	inspirerai	I will breathe in
tu	inspireras	you will breathe in
il / elle / on	inspirera	he / she / it will breathe inon: we will breathe in / one will breathe in
nous	inspirerons	we will breathe in
vous	inspirerez	you will breathe in
ils / elles	inspireront	they will breathe in

IN A SENTENCEFuture example

Plus tard, Paul inspirera lentement par le nez.

Later, Paul will breathe in slowly through his nose.

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Conditional Conditionnel présent

Hypothetical events and polite requests.

inspirer: Conditional, with English translations
Subject	French	English
je / j’	inspirerais	I would breathe in
tu	inspirerais	you would breathe in
il / elle / on	inspirerait	he / she / it would breathe inon: we would breathe in / one would breathe in
nous	inspirerions	we would breathe in
vous	inspireriez	you would breathe in
ils / elles	inspireraient	they would breathe in

IN A SENTENCEConditional example

Paul inspirerait lentement par le nez.

Paul would breathe in slowly through his nose.

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Present subjunctive Subjonctif présent

Dependent clauses expressing wishes, necessity, doubt, and certain feelings.

inspirer: Present subjunctive, with English translations
Subject	French	English
je / j’	inspire	(that) I breathe in
tu	inspires	(that) you breathe in
il / elle / on	inspire	(that) he / she / it breathes inon: (that) we breathe in / one breathes in
nous	inspirions	(that) we breathe in
vous	inspiriez	(that) you breathe in
ils / elles	inspirent	(that) they breathe in

IN A SENTENCEPresent subjunctive example

Il est possible que Paul inspire lentement par le nez.

It is possible that Paul breathes in slowly through his nose.

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French forms omit the subject. Use j’ before a vowel sound. Vous is polite singular or plural “you”; on often means “we,” or the general “one.” English wording depends on the context: passé composé can also use “have,” and the imperfect can describe an ongoing action. Subjunctive translations here follow “it is possible that.”

Meaning & usage

to breathe in
to inspire

English glosses are a starting point. The meaning of a verb can change with context, a preposition, or se. Read the full dictionary entry ↗

Meanings and simple conjugation forms adapted from English Wiktionary contributors via Kaikki.org / Wiktextract. Passé composé forms combine the source auxiliary and past participle. Frequency scores from wordfreq 3.1.1 by Robyn Speer and contributors. Adapted data is available under CC BY-SA 4.0. Entry source · Sources, download & limitations