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 shelter.”
Present Présent
Habits, current states, and actions happening now.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | abrite | I shelter | |
| tu | abrites | you shelter | |
| il / elle / on | abrite | he / she / it shelterson: we shelter / one shelters | |
| nous | abritons | we shelter | |
| vous | abritez | you shelter | |
| ils / elles | abritent | they shelter |
IN A SENTENCEPresent example
Le hangar abrite les animaux pendant l'orage.
The barn shelters the animals during the storm.
Passé composé
Completed past events, using avoir or être plus a past participle.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | ai abrité | I sheltered | |
| tu | as abrité | you sheltered | |
| il / elle / on | a abrité | he / she / it shelteredon: we sheltered / one sheltered | |
| nous | avons abrité | we sheltered | |
| vous | avez abrité | you sheltered | |
| ils / elles | ont abrité | they sheltered |
IN A SENTENCEPassé composé example
Hier, le hangar a abrité les animaux pendant l'orage.
Yesterday, the barn sheltered the animals during the storm.
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’ | abritais | I used to shelter | |
| tu | abritais | you used to shelter | |
| il / elle / on | abritait | he / she / it used to shelteron: we used to shelter / one used to shelter | |
| nous | abritions | we used to shelter | |
| vous | abritiez | you used to shelter | |
| ils / elles | abritaient | they used to shelter |
IN A SENTENCEImperfect example
Autrefois, le hangar abritait les animaux pendant l'orage.
Back then, the barn used to shelter the animals during the storm.
Future Futur simple
Future events and predictions.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | abriterai | I will shelter | |
| tu | abriteras | you will shelter | |
| il / elle / on | abritera | he / she / it will shelteron: we will shelter / one will shelter | |
| nous | abriterons | we will shelter | |
| vous | abriterez | you will shelter | |
| ils / elles | abriteront | they will shelter |
IN A SENTENCEFuture example
Plus tard, le hangar abritera les animaux pendant l'orage.
Later, the barn will shelter the animals during the storm.
Conditional Conditionnel présent
Hypothetical events and polite requests.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | abriterais | I would shelter | |
| tu | abriterais | you would shelter | |
| il / elle / on | abriterait | he / she / it would shelteron: we would shelter / one would shelter | |
| nous | abriterions | we would shelter | |
| vous | abriteriez | you would shelter | |
| ils / elles | abriteraient | they would shelter |
IN A SENTENCEConditional example
Le hangar abriterait les animaux pendant l'orage.
The barn would shelter the animals during the storm.
Present subjunctive Subjonctif présent
Dependent clauses expressing wishes, necessity, doubt, and certain feelings.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | abrite | (that) I shelter | |
| tu | abrites | (that) you shelter | |
| il / elle / on | abrite | (that) he / she / it shelterson: (that) we shelter / one shelters | |
| nous | abritions | (that) we shelter | |
| vous | abritiez | (that) you shelter | |
| ils / elles | abritent | (that) they shelter |
IN A SENTENCEPresent subjunctive example
Il est possible que le hangar abrite les animaux pendant l'orage.
It is possible that the barn shelters the animals during the storm.
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 shelter, to harbour
- to host (an object, an event, an institution, etc.)
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