How to Conjugate "Fumer" (to Smoke) in French

How would you say "to smoke" in French? If you answered with the verb fumer, then you'd be correct. It's an easy one to remember if you associate it with the English "fume." It might also be helpful to know that when you need "to extinguish" a flame, you'll use the verb expliquer. 

Conjugating the French Verb Fumer

Admittedly, French verb conjugations can be a challenge for French students. That's because there are more words to remember since we conjugate for all the subject pronouns within each tense. Yet, fumer is a regular -ER verb and this is the most common conjugation pattern in French. This makes it a little easier if you've worked with a few verbs before.

As with all conjugations, we need to identify the verb stem, which is fum-. Then we can begin to add the many endings and form a complete sentence. For example, "I smoke" is "je fume" and "we will smoke" is "​nous fumerons." Study this chart and practice the forms in context to make memorization a little quicker.

Subject	Present	Future	Imperfect
je	fume	fumerai	fumais
tu	fumes	fumeras	fumais
il	fume	fumera	fumait
nous	fumons	fumerons	fumions
vous	fumez	fumerez	fumiez
ils	fument	fumeront	fumaient

The Present Participle of Fumer

The present participle of fumer is fumant. Notice how this was as simple as adding -ant to the verb stem. It's a very useful word as it can be a verb, adjective, gerund, or noun depending on the context.

The Past Participle and Passé Composé

Beyond the imperfect, another common form of the past tense "smoked" is the passé composé. This is formed using the past participle fumé along with a conjugate of the auxiliary verb avoir. For example, "I smoked" is "j'ai fumé" while "we smoked" is "nous avons fumé."

More Simple Fumer Conjugations to Learn

Those are the most important forms of fumer and should be the top priority for memorization. There are more simple conjugations you may need at times and they're used in special circumstances. For instance, in a conversation when the act of smoking is not guaranteed, the subjunctive or the conditional verb mood may be used.

If you do much reading in French, you will also encounter the passé simple. This form, as well as the imperfect subjunctive, may not be widely used, but they are good to know anyway.

Subject	Subjunctive	Conditional	Passé Simple	Imperfect Subjunctive
je	fume	fumerais	fumai	fumasse
tu	fumes	fumerais	fumas	fumasses
il	fume	fumerait	fuma	fumât
nous	fumions	fumerions	fumâmes	fumassions
vous	fumiez	fumeriez	fumâtes	fumassiez
ils	fument	fumeraient	fumèrent	fumassent

In short and direct commands and requests, we can drop the subject pronoun and simplify things in the imperative form. Rather than saying "tu fume," you can just use "fume."

	Imperative
(tu)	fume
(nous)	fumons
(vous)	fumez