How to Conjugate "Établir" (to Establish)

The French verb établir means "to establish." This is a relatively easy one to remember because it resembles the English word and the conjugations aren't terribly difficult, either.

Conjugating the French Verb Établir

Verb conjugations are required when we want to change the tense. In English, we add -ed or -ing to do this, but it's more complex in French. That's because there's a new verb ending for ​every subject pronoun as well as every tense.

Établir is a regular -IR verb and it follows the verb conjugation rules of similar verbs like convertir (to convert), chérir (to cherish), and many others. This makes learning each new verb a little easier than the last.

To conjugate these verbs, we must first recognize the verb stem. For établir, that is établ-. Then we need to add the appropriate ending. For instance, "I establish" is "j'établis" and "we will establish" is "nous établirons."

Subject	Present	Future	Imperfect
j'	établis	établirai	établissais
tu	établis	établiras	établissais
il	établit	établira	établissait
nous	établissons	établirons	établissions
vous	établissez	établirez	établissiez
ils	établissent	établiront	établissaient

The Present Participle of Établir

Adding -ant to the verb stem of établir creates the present participle of établissant. This is a verb, yet it can also be used as an adjective, gerund, or noun in certain circumstances.

The Past Participle and Passé Composé

The past tense "established" can be formed using either the imperfect or the passé composé. To construct the latter, begin with the subject pronoun, conjugate the auxiliary verb avoir to match it, then add the past participle établi.

It comes together quickly: "I established" is "j'ai établi" and "we established" is "nous avons établi." You will notice that ai and avons are conjugates of avoir and that the past participle does not change. Apply these rules to other subjects as well.

More Simple Établir Conjugations

Practicing all of the above forms of établir should be the focus of your studies at first. When you're comfortable with those, consider adding the following to your vocabulary. Even if you don't use them personally, it's important to be able to recognize these and associate them with établir.

When the act of "establishing" has some question or uncertainty to it, the subjunctive form or the conditional verb can be used. It's likely that you will only encounter the passé simple and imperfect subjunctive in formal writing. 

Subject	Subjunctive	Conditional	Passé Simple	Imperfect Subjunctive
j'	établisse	établirais	établis	établisse
tu	établisses	établirais	établis	établisses
il	établisse	établirait	établit	établît
nous	établissions	établirions	établîmes	établissions
vous	établissiez	établiriez	établîtes	établissiez
ils	établissent	établiriez	établirent	établissent

For short statements that directly request or demand something to be established, use the imperative verb form. When doing so, the subject pronoun is not required: use "établis" rather than "tu établis."

	Imperative
(tu)	établis
(nous)	établissons
(vous)	établissez