How to Conjugate the French "Accueillir" (to Welcome)

As you are learning to speak French, you will find that you need to learn how to conjugate many verbs. The verb accueillir means "to welcome." This is one of the irregular verbs that is a little more difficult to remember, but with practice, you should have no problems. 

Conjugating the French Verb Accueillir

Why do we have to conjugate verbs in French? Put simply, to conjugate simply means to match the verb form to the subject you are speaking about. We do so in English as well, though not to such extremes as languages such as French.

For instance, we use a different form of accueillir when speaking about ourselves. "I welcome" becomes "j'accueille" in French. Likewise, "we welcome" becomes "nous accueillons."

It's actually quite simple. However, the problem with irregular verbs like accueillir is that there is no defined pattern. This is a rare exception to the French grammar rules for verbs ending in -ir. This means that you need to memorize each conjugation rather than rely on patterns and rules.

Don't worry, though. With a little study, you will find that there is some pattern to this verb and will be using it to form proper sentences before you know it. This chart shows all of the forms of accueillir in present, future, imperfect, and present participle tense.

Subject	Present	Future	Imperfect
j'	accueille	accueillerai	accueillais
tu	accueilles	accueilleras	accueillais
il	accueille	accueillera	accueillait
nous	accueillons	accueillerons	accueillions
vous	accueillez	accueillerez	accueilliez
ils	accueillent	accueilleront	accueillaient

The Present Participle of Accuellir

The present participle of accueillir is accueillant. It can be used as a verb or as an adjective, gerund, or noun, depending on the circumstance.

Accueillir in Past Tense

You may have noticed that the imperfect is the only past tense of accueillir in the chart. In many cases, we can simply use the passé composé to express a phrase such as "I welcomed."

There are two elements that need to be added in order to do so. One is the auxiliary verb, which is always either être or avoir. For accueillir, we use avoir. The second element is the past participle of the verb, which in this case is accueilli. This is used no matter the subject.

Putting all of this together, to say "I welcomed" in French, it would be "j'ai accueilli." To say "we welcomed," you would say "nous avons accueilli." In these cases, "ai" and "avons" are conjugates of the verb avoir.

More Conjugations for Accueillir

There are more conjugations for accueillir that you may use in some instances, though your focus should be on those above.

The subjunctive verb mood is used when something is uncertain. The conditional verb mood is used when the action is dependent on certain conditions. Both the passé simple and imperfect subjunctive are used in formal writing.

While you may never use these -- especially the last two in the chart -- it is good to be aware of their existence and when they might be used.

Subject	Subjunctive	Conditional	Passé Simple	Imperfect Subjunctive
j'	accueille	accueillerais	accueillis	accueillisse
tu	accueilles	accueillerais	accueillis	accueillisses
il	accueille	accueillerait	accueillit	accueillît
nous	accueillions	accueillerions	accueillîmes	accueillissions
vous	accueilliez	accueilleriez	accueillîtes	accueillissiez
ils	accueillent	accueilleraient	accueillirent	accueillissent

The final form of the verb accueillir is the imperative form, which also expresses mood. In this form, you will not use the subject pronoun. Instead, it is implied within the verb itself and you will notice that they have the same endings as the present tense and subjunctive forms.

Rather than say "tu accueille," you will simply use the word "accueille."

	Imperative
(tu)	accueille
(nous)	accueillons
(vous)	accueillez

Similar Irregular Verbs

Just because it is an irregular verb does not mean that accueillir is not similar to other verbs. While you are studying "to welcome" include cueillir in your lessons. This verb means "to gather" or "to pick" and uses similar endings to those you see above.