How to Conjugate "Dépenser" (to Spend)

In French, the verb dépenser means "to spend." As with all verbs, when you want to place it into the past tense "spent" or the future tense "will spend," a conjugation is required. This one's relatively straightforward and a quick lesson will walk you through the various verb forms.

Conjugating the French Verb Dépenser

Dépenser is a regular -ER verb and it follows a standard conjugation pattern in the verb endings. This means that once you learn how this word changes, you can apply the knowledge to similar verbs like débarquer (to land) and débarrasser (to clear), among many others.

When conjugating the verb, you will attach a new ending to the verb stem dépens- for each subject pronoun as well as each tense. For instance, "I spend" is "je dépense" and "we will spend" is "nous dépenserons."

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The Present Participle of Dépenser

To form the present participle, the ending -ant is added to the verb stem. This produces dépensant and it works as a verb as well as an adjective, gerund, or noun.

Another Common Past Tense Form 

You can use either the imperfect or the passé composé to express the past tense of dépenser. For the latter, first conjugate the auxiliary verb avoir, then attach the past participle dépensé.

As an example, "I spent" becomes "j'ai dépensé" and "we did spend" is "nous avons dépensé."

More Simple Dépenser Conjugations

Those are the most common and simple verb conjugations for dépenser. At times, you may encounter or need to use one of the following forms.

The subjunctive and conditional verb moods are used when there is some degree of question or uncertainty to the verb's action. The passé simple and imperfect subjunctive are most often found in writing.

The imperative verb form of dépenser may also be useful. When using it, the subject pronoun is not required: simplify "tu dépense" to "dépense."