Passé Composé (Present Perfect) Tense Conjugation of the French Verb capituler

ByMichael Burns

Introduction to the verb capituler

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The English translation of the French verb capituler is “to surrender” or “to capitulate”. It is pronounced as “kah-pee-too-lay” in the infinitive form.

Capituler originated from the Latin word “capitulum” which means “small head” or “chapter”. In the 16th century, it was used in French as “capituler” to refer to the act of ending a war or a conflict by signing a treaty or an agreement. Over time, it evolved to also mean surrendering or giving in to someone or something.

In everyday French, capituler is most often used in the Passé Composé tense to talk about past actions or events. It is often used to describe a surrender or capitulation in a historical context.

  1. Les troupes ennemies ont capitulé après des mois de combats acharnés. (The enemy troops surrendered after months of fierce fighting.)
  2. En 1945, l’Allemagne a capitulé et mis fin à la Seconde Guerre Mondiale. (In 1945, Germany surrendered and ended World War II.)
  3. La ville a capitulé face aux revendications des manifestants. (The city surrendered to the demands of the protesters.)

In these examples, capituler is used to describe a surrender or capitulation in different contexts. In the first example, it is used to talk about a military surrender, while in the second example it is used to describe a surrender of a country in a war. In the third example, it is used to talk about a surrender to demands or requests.

Table of the Passé Composé (Present Perfect) Tense Conjugation of capituler

Pronoun Conjugation Short Example English Translation
je ai capitulé J’ai capitulé sans conditions. I capitulated unconditionally.
tu as capitulé Tu as capitulé sous la pression. You capitulated under pressure.
il a capitulé Il a capitulé devant l’ennemi. He capitulated in front of the enemy.
elle a capitulé Elle a capitulé face à l’adversité. She capitulated in the face of adversity.
on a capitulé On a capitulé sans résistance. We capitulated without resistance.
nous avons capitulé Nous avons capitulé sous les conditions. We capitulated under the conditions.
vous avez capitulé Vous avez capitulé sous la menace. You capitulated under the threat.
ils ont capitulé Ils ont capitulé malgré les obstacles. They capitulated despite the obstacles.
elles ont capitulé Elles ont capitulé après la défaite. They capitulated after the defeat.

Other Conjugations for Capituler.

   
    Le Present (Present Tense) Conjugation of the French Verb capituler
   

    Imparfait (Imperfect) Tense Conjugation of the French Verb capituler
   

    Passé Simple (Simple Past) Tense Conjugation of the French Verb capituler
   

    Passé Composé (Present Perfect) Tense Conjugation of the French Verb capituler    (this article)

    Futur Simple (Simple Future) Tense Conjugation of the French Verb capituler
   

    Futur Proche (Near Future) Tense Conjugation of the French Verb capituler
   

    Plus-que-parfait (Pluperfect) Tense Conjugation of the French Verb capituler
   

    Passé Antérieur (Past Anterior) Tense Conjugation of the French Verb capituler

    Futur Antérieur (Future Anterior) Tense Conjugation of the French Verb capituler

    Subjonctif Présent (Subjunctive Present) Tense Conjugation of the French Verb capituler

    Subjonctif Passé (Subjunctive Past) Tense Conjugation of the French Verb capituler
   

    Subjonctif Imparfait (Subjunctive Imperfect) Tense Conjugation of the French Verb capituler

    Subjonctif Plus-que-parfait (Subjunctive Pluperfect) Tense Conjugation of the French Verb capituler
   

    Conditionnel Présent (Conditional Present) Tense Conjugation of the French Verb capituler
   

    Conditionnel Passé (Conditional Past) Tense Conjugation of the French Verb capituler

    L’impératif Présent (Imperative Present) Tense Conjugation of the French Verb capituler

    L’infinitif Présent (Infinitive Present) Tense Conjugation of the French Verb capituler

    Struggling with French verbs or the language in general? Why not use our free French Grammar Checker – no registration required!
   

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Capituler – About the French Passé Composé (Present Perfect) Tense

The French Passé Composé is a compound tense used to express actions or events that have been completed in the past. It is one of the most common past tenses in the French language and is typically used in everyday conversation to describe actions that occurred at a specific point in the past. The Passé Composé is constructed using an auxiliary verb (either “être” or “avoir”) and a past participle.

NOTE: To take a deep dive into all the French tenses then see our article on Mastering French Tense Conjugation.

Formation of the Passé Composé

Set the auxiliary verb with either

“être” – used with a select group of verbs (mostly intransitive verbs of motion, reflexive verbs, and some others) or
“avoir” – used with most other verbs. 

Conjugate the auxiliary verb

If using “être,” you must conjugate it in the present tense according to the subject of the sentence. 
Je suis, Tu es, Il est, Nous sommes, Vous êtes, Ils sont 
If using “avoir,” conjugate it according to the subject as well: 
J’ai, Tu as, Elle a, Nous avons, Vous avez, Ils ont.  

Add the past participle

For regular -er verbs, remove the -er ending and add -é (e.g., “parler” becomes “parlé”). 
For regular -ir verbs, remove the -ir ending and add -i (e.g., “finir” becomes “fini”). 
For regular -re verbs, remove the -re ending and add -u (e.g., “vendre” becomes “vendu”). 
For irregular verbs, you’ll need to learn the past participles individually, as they don’t follow a regular pattern.

Common everyday usage patterns

Narrating Past Events

The Passé Composé is used to talk about specific actions or events that took place in the past. For example: “Hier, j’ai mangé une pizza” (Yesterday, I ate a pizza). 

Sequential Actions

When describing a series of actions in the past, the Passé Composé is used. For example: “D’abord, je me suis réveillé, puis je suis allé travailler” (First, I woke up, then I went to work). 

Describing Completed Actions

It’s used to emphasize that an action has been completed, often with a specific time reference. For example: “Elle a terminé son travail à 18 heures” (She finished her work at 6 p.m.). 

Interactions with other tenses

Imperfect Tense

The Passé Composé is often used in conjunction with the imperfect tense when telling a story or describing past events. The Passé Composé is used for specific actions that occurred, while the imperfect is used for background information or ongoing actions. 
For example: “Il pleuvait quand j’ai sorti mon parapluie” (It was raining when I took out my umbrella).

Conditional and Future Tenses

The Passé Composé is used as a reference point in complex sentences to establish the sequence of events in relation to future or conditional actions. 
For example: “Quand il est arrivé, je lui ai donné ton message” (When he arrived, I gave him your message). 

Summary

The French Passé Composé is an essential tense for talking about completed actions in the past in everyday conversation. It’s important to master the choice of auxiliary verb and the past participle conjugation for various verbs to use it effectively.

I hope you enjoyed this article on the verb capituler. Still in a learning mood? Check out another TOTALLY random French verb conjugation!

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