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 lead.”
Present Présent
Habits, current states, and actions happening now.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | aboutis | I lead | |
| tu | aboutis | you lead | |
| il / elle / on | aboutit | he / she / it leadson: we lead / one leads | |
| nous | aboutissons | we lead | |
| vous | aboutissez | you lead | |
| ils / elles | aboutissent | they lead |
IN A SENTENCEPresent example
Ce chemin aboutit à la plage.
This path leads to the beach.
Passé composé
Completed past events, using avoir or être plus a past participle.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | ai abouti | I led | |
| tu | as abouti | you led | |
| il / elle / on | a abouti | he / she / it ledon: we led / one led | |
| nous | avons abouti | we led | |
| vous | avez abouti | you led | |
| ils / elles | ont abouti | they led |
IN A SENTENCEPassé composé example
Hier, ce chemin a abouti à la plage.
Yesterday, this path led to the beach.
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’ | aboutissais | I used to lead | |
| tu | aboutissais | you used to lead | |
| il / elle / on | aboutissait | he / she / it used to leadon: we used to lead / one used to lead | |
| nous | aboutissions | we used to lead | |
| vous | aboutissiez | you used to lead | |
| ils / elles | aboutissaient | they used to lead |
IN A SENTENCEImperfect example
Autrefois, ce chemin aboutissait à la plage.
Back then, this path used to lead to the beach.
Future Futur simple
Future events and predictions.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | aboutirai | I will lead | |
| tu | aboutiras | you will lead | |
| il / elle / on | aboutira | he / she / it will leadon: we will lead / one will lead | |
| nous | aboutirons | we will lead | |
| vous | aboutirez | you will lead | |
| ils / elles | aboutiront | they will lead |
IN A SENTENCEFuture example
Plus tard, ce chemin aboutira à la plage.
Later, this path will lead to the beach.
Conditional Conditionnel présent
Hypothetical events and polite requests.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | aboutirais | I would lead | |
| tu | aboutirais | you would lead | |
| il / elle / on | aboutirait | he / she / it would leadon: we would lead / one would lead | |
| nous | aboutirions | we would lead | |
| vous | aboutiriez | you would lead | |
| ils / elles | aboutiraient | they would lead |
IN A SENTENCEConditional example
Ce chemin aboutirait à la plage.
This path would lead to the beach.
Present subjunctive Subjonctif présent
Dependent clauses expressing wishes, necessity, doubt, and certain feelings.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | aboutisse | (that) I lead | |
| tu | aboutisses | (that) you lead | |
| il / elle / on | aboutisse | (that) he / she / it leadson: (that) we lead / one leads | |
| nous | aboutissions | (that) we lead | |
| vous | aboutissiez | (that) you lead | |
| ils / elles | aboutissent | (that) they lead |
IN A SENTENCEPresent subjunctive example
Il est possible que ce chemin aboutisse à la plage.
It is possible that this path leads to the beach.
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 lead to, to end up in, to reach
- to lead to, to have the consequence of
- to reach a conclusion, to succeed
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