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 finish.”
Present Présent
Habits, current states, and actions happening now.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | achève | I finish | |
| tu | achèves | you finish | |
| il / elle / on | achève | he / she / it finisheson: we finish / one finishes | |
| nous | achevons | we finish | |
| vous | achevez | you finish | |
| ils / elles | achèvent | they finish |
IN A SENTENCEPresent example
Paul achève la lecture du roman.
Paul finishes reading the novel.
Passé composé
Completed past events, using avoir or être plus a past participle.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | ai achevé | I finished | |
| tu | as achevé | you finished | |
| il / elle / on | a achevé | he / she / it finishedon: we finished / one finished | |
| nous | avons achevé | we finished | |
| vous | avez achevé | you finished | |
| ils / elles | ont achevé | they finished |
IN A SENTENCEPassé composé example
Hier, Paul a achevé la lecture du roman.
Yesterday, Paul finished reading the novel.
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’ | achevais | I used to finish | |
| tu | achevais | you used to finish | |
| il / elle / on | achevait | he / she / it used to finishon: we used to finish / one used to finish | |
| nous | achevions | we used to finish | |
| vous | acheviez | you used to finish | |
| ils / elles | achevaient | they used to finish |
IN A SENTENCEImperfect example
Autrefois, Paul achevait la lecture du roman.
Back then, Paul used to finish reading the novel.
Future Futur simple
Future events and predictions.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | achèverai | I will finish | |
| tu | achèveras | you will finish | |
| il / elle / on | achèvera | he / she / it will finishon: we will finish / one will finish | |
| nous | achèverons | we will finish | |
| vous | achèverez | you will finish | |
| ils / elles | achèveront | they will finish |
IN A SENTENCEFuture example
Plus tard, Paul achèvera la lecture du roman.
Later, Paul will finish reading the novel.
Conditional Conditionnel présent
Hypothetical events and polite requests.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | achèverais | I would finish | |
| tu | achèverais | you would finish | |
| il / elle / on | achèverait | he / she / it would finishon: we would finish / one would finish | |
| nous | achèverions | we would finish | |
| vous | achèveriez | you would finish | |
| ils / elles | achèveraient | they would finish |
IN A SENTENCEConditional example
Paul achèverait la lecture du roman.
Paul would finish reading the novel.
Present subjunctive Subjonctif présent
Dependent clauses expressing wishes, necessity, doubt, and certain feelings.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | achève | (that) I finish | |
| tu | achèves | (that) you finish | |
| il / elle / on | achève | (that) he / she / it finisheson: (that) we finish / one finishes | |
| nous | achevions | (that) we finish | |
| vous | acheviez | (that) you finish | |
| ils / elles | achèvent | (that) they finish |
IN A SENTENCEPresent subjunctive example
Il est possible que Paul achève la lecture du roman.
It is possible that Paul finishes reading the novel.
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 finish, to complete
- to finish off (someone who is already incapacitated)
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