How to Conjugate "Employer" (to Use)

How would you say "to use" in French? If you answered with employer, then you are correct. It's a simple word and one that we use all the time in English, though it most commonly refers to our work or job. Yet, we also "employ" the use of tools and other things to help us out. It's time to "employ" your verb conjugation skills for a quick lesson on employer. 

Conjugating the French Verb Employer

Employer is a stem-changing verb, which is common with verbs that end in -yer. Throughout the conjugations, you will notice that the 'Y' often changes to an 'I' and that is to retain the correct pronunciation as various endings are added.

Other than that small change, these conjugations are relatively simple. If you've worked with a few verbs before, then you should recognize some patterns here.

In French, verb conjugations help us make sense of our sentences. They tell us which endings to add to the verb stem in order to match the appropriate tense to the subject pronoun. For example, "I use" becomes "j'emploie" while "we will use" is "nous emploierons."

Did you notice the stem change? When practicing these in context, it's a good idea to write them down at the same time. This will help you memorize the spelling for each conjugation.

Subject	Present	Future	Imperfect
j'	emploie	emploierai	employais
tu	emploies	emploieras	employais
il	emploie	emploiera	employait
nous	employons	emploierons	employions
vous	employez	emploierez	employiez
ils	emploient	emploieront	employaient

The Present Participle of Employer

The present participle of employer is employant. It acts as an adjective, gerund, or noun in many circumstances, though it most often remains a verb.

The Past Participle and Passé Composé

The passé composé is a common way to express the past tense "used" in French. To construct it, attach the past participle employé to the conjugate of avoir (an auxiliary verb) and the subject pronoun. For instance, "I used" is "j'ai employé" while "we used" is "nous avons employé."

More Simple Employer Conjugations

There will be times when the action of using is subjective or uncertain. For these, the subjunctive verb form is quite useful. In a similar fashion, the conditional verb mood is used when the action is dependent -- if this happens, then something will be "used."

The passé simple is primarily found in literature, so you may not see or use it often. The same is true for the imperfect subjunctive. However, it's a good idea to be familiar with these anyway.

Subject	Subjunctive	Conditional	Passé Simple	Imperfect Subjunctive
j'	emploie	emploierais	employai	employasse
tu	emploies	emploierais	employas	employasses
il	emploie	emploierait	employa	employât
nous	employions	emploierions	employâmes	employassions
vous	employiez	emploieriez	employâtes	employassiez
ils	emploient	emploieraient	employèrent	employassent

For short, direct statements that request or demand, use the imperative form of employer. When doing so, there's no need to include the subject pronoun: use "emploie" rather than "tu emploie."

	Imperative
(tu)	emploie
(nous)	employons
(vous)	employez