How to Conjugate "Diriger" (to Direct)

In French, the verb diriger means "to direct." It's a simple word, though conjugating it to the past, present, or future tense can be a little tricky. That's because there are a few spelling changes that you need to watch out for. Don't worry, though, a quick lesson will show you how to handle this verb.

Conjugating the French Verb Diriger

Diriger is a spelling change verb and it follows the pattern of other verbs that end in -ger. This includes déranger (to disturb) and bouger (to move), among others.

The spelling change is subtle but important. As you study the table of conjugations, notice how a few forms follow the 'G' with an 'I' rather than an 'E.' This is done to ensure that the 'G' is pronounced with a soft sound because certain vowels typically change it to a hard sound.

With that in mind, simply match the subject pronoun with the present, future, or imperfect past tense. For instance, "I direct" is "je dirige" and "we will direct" is "nous dirigerons."

Subject	Present	Future	Imperfect
je	dirige	dirigerai	dirigeais
tu	diriges	dirigeras	dirigeais
il	dirige	dirigera	dirigeait
nous	dirigeons	dirigerons	dirigions
vous	dirigez	dirigerez	dirigiez
ils	dirigent	dirigeront	dirigeaient

The Present Participle of Diriger

To change diriger to the present participle, add -ant to the verb stem to create dirigeant. This is quite versatile as it acts as a verb, adjective, gerund, or noun as needed.

The Passé Composé and Past Participle

A common way to express the past tense "directed" is with the passé composé. To form this, add the past participle dirigé to the subject pronoun and appropriate conjugation of the auxiliary verb avoir.

For example, "I directed" is "j'ai dirigé" and "we directed" is "nous avons dirigé." Notice how ai and avons are conjugates of avoir and the past participle does not change.

More Simple Diriger Conjugations

There may also be times when you need to use one of the following conjugations. The subjunctive verb mood is useful when there is some degree of uncertainty to the verb. Likewise, the conditional is used when it may or may not happen because the action depends on something.

Those are used more often than the other two forms. It's likely that you will only encounter the passé simple and imperfect subjunctive in formal writing.

Subject	Subjunctive	Conditional	Passé Simple	Imperfect Subjunctive
je	dirige	dirigerais	dirigeai	dirigeasse
tu	diriges	dirigerais	dirigeas	dirigeasses
il	dirige	dirigerait	dirigea	dirigeât
nous	dirigions	dirigerions	dirigeâmes	dirigeassions
vous	dirigiez	dirigeriez	dirigeâtes	dirigeassiez
ils	dirigent	dirigeraient	dirigèrent	dirigeassent

To express diriger in commands or requests, use the imperative form. When doing so, the subject pronoun is not required, so you can use "dirige" rather than "tu dirige."

	Imperative
(tu)	dirige
(nous)	dirigeons
(vous)	dirigez