Conjugations
All six tenses and their examples are shown below. Use the links above to jump to a tense. English translations use the meaning “to cut down.”
Present Présent
Habits, current states, and actions happening now.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | abats | I cut down | |
| tu | abats | you cut down | |
| il / elle / on | abat | he / she / it cuts downon: we cut down / one cuts down | |
| nous | abattons | we cut down | |
| vous | abattez | you cut down | |
| ils / elles | abattent | they cut down |
IN A SENTENCEPresent example
Le bûcheron abat un arbre malade.
The woodcutter cuts down a diseased tree.
Passé composé
Completed past events, using avoir or être plus a past participle.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | ai abattu | I cut down | |
| tu | as abattu | you cut down | |
| il / elle / on | a abattu | he / she / it cut downon: we cut down / one cut down | |
| nous | avons abattu | we cut down | |
| vous | avez abattu | you cut down | |
| ils / elles | ont abattu | they cut down |
IN A SENTENCEPassé composé example
Hier, le bûcheron a abattu un arbre malade.
Yesterday, the woodcutter cut down a diseased tree.
The passé composé uses avoir. The table shows the unmarked participle; agreement with a preceding direct object is outside this reference.
Back to tense navigation ↑Imperfect Imparfait
Past habits, descriptions, and actions in progress.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | abattais | I used to cut down | |
| tu | abattais | you used to cut down | |
| il / elle / on | abattait | he / she / it used to cut downon: we used to cut down / one used to cut down | |
| nous | abattions | we used to cut down | |
| vous | abattiez | you used to cut down | |
| ils / elles | abattaient | they used to cut down |
IN A SENTENCEImperfect example
Autrefois, le bûcheron abattait un arbre malade.
Back then, the woodcutter used to cut down a diseased tree.
Future Futur simple
Future events and predictions.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | abattrai | I will cut down | |
| tu | abattras | you will cut down | |
| il / elle / on | abattra | he / she / it will cut downon: we will cut down / one will cut down | |
| nous | abattrons | we will cut down | |
| vous | abattrez | you will cut down | |
| ils / elles | abattront | they will cut down |
IN A SENTENCEFuture example
Plus tard, le bûcheron abattra un arbre malade.
Later, the woodcutter will cut down a diseased tree.
Conditional Conditionnel présent
Hypothetical events and polite requests.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | abattrais | I would cut down | |
| tu | abattrais | you would cut down | |
| il / elle / on | abattrait | he / she / it would cut downon: we would cut down / one would cut down | |
| nous | abattrions | we would cut down | |
| vous | abattriez | you would cut down | |
| ils / elles | abattraient | they would cut down |
IN A SENTENCEConditional example
Le bûcheron abattrait un arbre malade.
The woodcutter would cut down a diseased tree.
Present subjunctive Subjonctif présent
Dependent clauses expressing wishes, necessity, doubt, and certain feelings.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | abatte | (that) I cut down | |
| tu | abattes | (that) you cut down | |
| il / elle / on | abatte | (that) he / she / it cuts downon: (that) we cut down / one cuts down | |
| nous | abattions | (that) we cut down | |
| vous | abattiez | (that) you cut down | |
| ils / elles | abattent | (that) they cut down |
IN A SENTENCEPresent subjunctive example
Il est possible que le bûcheron abatte un arbre malade.
It is possible that the woodcutter cuts down a diseased tree.
French forms omit the subject. Use j’ before a vowel sound. Vous is polite singular or plural “you”; on often means “we,” or the general “one.” English wording depends on the context: passé composé can also use “have,” and the imperfect can describe an ongoing action. Subjunctive translations here follow “it is possible that.”
Meaning & usage
- to butcher; to slaughter for meat
- to shoot dead
- to cut down (a tree)
English glosses are a starting point. The meaning of a verb can change with context, a preposition, or se. Read the full dictionary entry ↗
Meanings and simple conjugation forms adapted from English Wiktionary contributors via Kaikki.org / Wiktextract. Passé composé forms combine the source auxiliary and past participle. Frequency scores from wordfreq 3.1.1 by Robyn Speer and contributors. Adapted data is available under CC BY-SA 4.0. Entry source · Sources, download & limitations