Learn the Conjugations for Sourire (to Smile)

Sourire  is a great French verb because it means to smile. When you want to say the past tense she smiled or the present tense we are smiling, the verb will need to be conjugated. In order to do this, youll need to memorize quite a few words and this lesson will introduce you to the essentials youll need. The Basic Conjugations of  Sourire Some French verbs are easier to conjugate than others. Unfortunately, sourire is not one of the easy ones. Thats because its an irregular verb and it does not follow any common rules. However, a verb such as rire (to laugh) does share the same endings. If you study smiling and laughing at the same time, both will be just that much easier to remember. Who knows, you might even have a little fun! The first step in any French verb conjugation is to identify the verb stem (or radical). In this case, that is  sour-. With that, you can use the table to find the correct ending to use. Simply find the subject pronoun needed and choose either the present, future, or imperfect past tense. For example,  I am smiling is  je souris  and we smiled is  nous souriions. Present Future Imperfect je souris sourirai souriais tu souris souriras souriais il sourit sourira souriait nous sourions sourirons souriions vous souriez sourirez souriiez ils sourient souriront souriaient The Present Participle of  Sourire Beyond the verb usage, the present participle of sourire can be used as an adjective or noun. Its easy to form as well. Simply add - iant to the radical and you have souriant Sourire  in the Compound Past Tense The passà © composà © is a compound past tense and its used frequently in French. In order to construct it, you will conjugate avoir into the present tense and follow it with the past participle souri. That gives you jai souri for I smiled and nous avons souri for we smiled. More Simple Conjugations of  Sourire If you need to question to the act of smiling,  the subjunctive verb mood  can be used. When the act is dependent on something,  the conditional  is useful.  The passà © simple  and  imperfect subjunctive  are both literary forms, so youll find those most often in written French. Subjunctive Conditional Passà © Simple Imperfect Subjunctive je sourie sourirais souris sourisse tu souries sourirais souris sourisses il sourie sourirait sourit sourà ®t nous souriions souririons sourà ®mes sourissions vous souriiez souririez sourà ®tes sourissiez ils sourient souriraient sourirent sourissent The imperative  is the one time when its acceptable to skip the subject pronoun. Its useful for short sentences, such as commanding someone to Smile!   Imperative (tu) souris (nous) sourions (vous) souriez