The French Verb Conjugations of Chauffer (to Heat)

The French Verb Conjugations of Chauffer (to Heat) In French,  the verb  chauffer  means  to heat. This can easily be confused with chauffeur as in driver. To keep it straight, think of the verb more like a chaffing dish, meaning a heated food serving platter you often see at buffets or banquets. Conjugating the French Verb  Chauffer​ As with all French verbs, we need to conjugate  chauffer  in order for it to mean heating or heated. The -ing and -ed endings are English conjugations and they are universal to the subject. Yet, in French, we must match the verb with the tense as well as the subject: the endings for we is different than the endings for I. While verb conjugations are challenging  for many French students, those that end in -er  often follow a prescribed pattern.  Chauffer  is one of those because it is a  regular -er verb. We take the stem of  chauff  and add particular endings according to the subject and tense. These same endings are used for similar verbs like  brà »ler  (to burn) and  allumer  (to light), making each a little easier to learn than the first. Using the chart, pair the subject pronoun to the proper tense for your subject. For example, I heat is je chauffe and we will heat is nous chaufferons. Subject Present Future Imperfect je chauffe chaufferai chauffais tu chauffes chaufferas chauffais il chauffe chauffera chauffait nous chauffons chaufferons chauffions vous chauffez chaufferez chauffiez ils chauffent chaufferont chauffaient The Present Participle of  Chauffer The  present participle  of chauffer  is chauffant. For this conjugation, it is as easy as adding -ant  to the verb stem. It is used as a verb and will also work as an adjective, gerund, or noun when needed. The Past Participle and Passà © Composà © A  common way to express the past tense heated in French is to use the  passà © composà ©. To do this, conjugate the  auxiliary, or helping verb  avoir  to the correct subject, then add the  past participle  chauffà ©. For instance, I heated becomes jai chauffà © and we heated is nous avons chauffà ©. You should note that  ai  and  avons  are conjugates of  avoir.  Also, the past participle does not change when the subject does. More Simple  Chauffer  Conjugations to Know At first, students should focus on the present, past, and future forms of  chauffer  as these are used most often. With experience, you may also find a use for the subjunctive or conditional verb forms. Both of these imply some degree of uncertainty to the verb. In rare instances and primarily in literature, you will see the passà © simple and imperfect subjunctive forms of  chauffer. While you may not use or need them yourself, you should at least be able to recognize and associate them with to heat. Subject Subjunctive Conditional Passà © Simple Imperfect Subjunctive je chauffe chaufferais chauffai chauffasse tu chauffes chaufferais chauffas chauffasses il chauffe chaufferait chauffa chauffà ¢t nous chauffions chaufferions chauffà ¢mes chauffassions vous chauffiez chaufferiez chauffà ¢tes chauffassiez ils chauffent chaufferaient chauffà ¨rent chauffassent For short and direct exclamations, use  chauffer  in the imperative form. To do so, theres no need to include the subject pronoun. Rather than saying tu chauffe, you can simply say chauffe. Imperative (tu) chauffe (nous) chauffons (vous) chauffez