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 buy.”
Present Présent
Habits, current states, and actions happening now.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | achète | I buy | |
| tu | achètes | you buy | |
| il / elle / on | achète | he / she / it buyson: we buy / one buys | |
| nous | achetons | we buy | |
| vous | achetez | you buy | |
| ils / elles | achètent | they buy |
IN A SENTENCEPresent example
Paul achète du pain à la boulangerie.
Paul buys bread at the bakery.
Passé composé
Completed past events, using avoir or être plus a past participle.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | ai acheté | I bought | |
| tu | as acheté | you bought | |
| il / elle / on | a acheté | he / she / it boughton: we bought / one bought | |
| nous | avons acheté | we bought | |
| vous | avez acheté | you bought | |
| ils / elles | ont acheté | they bought |
IN A SENTENCEPassé composé example
Hier, Paul a acheté du pain à la boulangerie.
Yesterday, Paul bought bread at the bakery.
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’ | achetais | I used to buy | |
| tu | achetais | you used to buy | |
| il / elle / on | achetait | he / she / it used to buyon: we used to buy / one used to buy | |
| nous | achetions | we used to buy | |
| vous | achetiez | you used to buy | |
| ils / elles | achetaient | they used to buy |
IN A SENTENCEImperfect example
Autrefois, Paul achetait du pain à la boulangerie.
Back then, Paul used to buy bread at the bakery.
Future Futur simple
Future events and predictions.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | achèterai | I will buy | |
| tu | achèteras | you will buy | |
| il / elle / on | achètera | he / she / it will buyon: we will buy / one will buy | |
| nous | achèterons | we will buy | |
| vous | achèterez | you will buy | |
| ils / elles | achèteront | they will buy |
IN A SENTENCEFuture example
Plus tard, Paul achètera du pain à la boulangerie.
Later, Paul will buy bread at the bakery.
Conditional Conditionnel présent
Hypothetical events and polite requests.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | achèterais | I would buy | |
| tu | achèterais | you would buy | |
| il / elle / on | achèterait | he / she / it would buyon: we would buy / one would buy | |
| nous | achèterions | we would buy | |
| vous | achèteriez | you would buy | |
| ils / elles | achèteraient | they would buy |
IN A SENTENCEConditional example
Paul achèterait du pain à la boulangerie.
Paul would buy bread at the bakery.
Present subjunctive Subjonctif présent
Dependent clauses expressing wishes, necessity, doubt, and certain feelings.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | achète | (that) I buy | |
| tu | achètes | (that) you buy | |
| il / elle / on | achète | (that) he / she / it buyson: (that) we buy / one buys | |
| nous | achetions | (that) we buy | |
| vous | achetiez | (that) you buy | |
| ils / elles | achètent | (that) they buy |
IN A SENTENCEPresent subjunctive example
Il est possible que Paul achète du pain à la boulangerie.
It is possible that Paul buys bread at the bakery.
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 purchase; buy
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