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 accept.”
Present Présent
Habits, current states, and actions happening now.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | accepte | I accept | |
| tu | acceptes | you accept | |
| il / elle / on | accepte | he / she / it acceptson: we accept / one accepts | |
| nous | acceptons | we accept | |
| vous | acceptez | you accept | |
| ils / elles | acceptent | they accept |
IN A SENTENCEPresent example
Paul accepte l'invitation de son voisin.
Paul accepts his neighbor's invitation.
Passé composé
Completed past events, using avoir or être plus a past participle.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | ai accepté | I accepted | |
| tu | as accepté | you accepted | |
| il / elle / on | a accepté | he / she / it acceptedon: we accepted / one accepted | |
| nous | avons accepté | we accepted | |
| vous | avez accepté | you accepted | |
| ils / elles | ont accepté | they accepted |
IN A SENTENCEPassé composé example
Hier, Paul a accepté l'invitation de son voisin.
Yesterday, Paul accepted his neighbor's invitation.
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’ | acceptais | I used to accept | |
| tu | acceptais | you used to accept | |
| il / elle / on | acceptait | he / she / it used to accepton: we used to accept / one used to accept | |
| nous | acceptions | we used to accept | |
| vous | acceptiez | you used to accept | |
| ils / elles | acceptaient | they used to accept |
IN A SENTENCEImperfect example
Autrefois, Paul acceptait l'invitation de son voisin.
Back then, Paul used to accept his neighbor's invitation.
Future Futur simple
Future events and predictions.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | accepterai | I will accept | |
| tu | accepteras | you will accept | |
| il / elle / on | acceptera | he / she / it will accepton: we will accept / one will accept | |
| nous | accepterons | we will accept | |
| vous | accepterez | you will accept | |
| ils / elles | accepteront | they will accept |
IN A SENTENCEFuture example
Plus tard, Paul acceptera l'invitation de son voisin.
Later, Paul will accept his neighbor's invitation.
Conditional Conditionnel présent
Hypothetical events and polite requests.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | accepterais | I would accept | |
| tu | accepterais | you would accept | |
| il / elle / on | accepterait | he / she / it would accepton: we would accept / one would accept | |
| nous | accepterions | we would accept | |
| vous | accepteriez | you would accept | |
| ils / elles | accepteraient | they would accept |
IN A SENTENCEConditional example
Paul accepterait l'invitation de son voisin.
Paul would accept his neighbor's invitation.
Present subjunctive Subjonctif présent
Dependent clauses expressing wishes, necessity, doubt, and certain feelings.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | accepte | (that) I accept | |
| tu | acceptes | (that) you accept | |
| il / elle / on | accepte | (that) he / she / it acceptson: (that) we accept / one accepts | |
| nous | acceptions | (that) we accept | |
| vous | acceptiez | (that) you accept | |
| ils / elles | acceptent | (that) they accept |
IN A SENTENCEPresent subjunctive example
Il est possible que Paul accepte l'invitation de son voisin.
It is possible that Paul accepts his neighbor's invitation.
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 accept
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