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 activate.”
Present Présent
Habits, current states, and actions happening now.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | active | I activate | |
| tu | actives | you activate | |
| il / elle / on | active | he / she / it activateson: we activate / one activates | |
| nous | activons | we activate | |
| vous | activez | you activate | |
| ils / elles | activent | they activate |
IN A SENTENCEPresent example
Paul active le système d'alarme.
Paul activates the alarm system.
Passé composé
Completed past events, using avoir or être plus a past participle.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | ai activé | I activated | |
| tu | as activé | you activated | |
| il / elle / on | a activé | he / she / it activatedon: we activated / one activated | |
| nous | avons activé | we activated | |
| vous | avez activé | you activated | |
| ils / elles | ont activé | they activated |
IN A SENTENCEPassé composé example
Hier, Paul a activé le système d'alarme.
Yesterday, Paul activated the alarm system.
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’ | activais | I used to activate | |
| tu | activais | you used to activate | |
| il / elle / on | activait | he / she / it used to activateon: we used to activate / one used to activate | |
| nous | activions | we used to activate | |
| vous | activiez | you used to activate | |
| ils / elles | activaient | they used to activate |
IN A SENTENCEImperfect example
Autrefois, Paul activait le système d'alarme.
Back then, Paul used to activate the alarm system.
Future Futur simple
Future events and predictions.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | activerai | I will activate | |
| tu | activeras | you will activate | |
| il / elle / on | activera | he / she / it will activateon: we will activate / one will activate | |
| nous | activerons | we will activate | |
| vous | activerez | you will activate | |
| ils / elles | activeront | they will activate |
IN A SENTENCEFuture example
Plus tard, Paul activera le système d'alarme.
Later, Paul will activate the alarm system.
Conditional Conditionnel présent
Hypothetical events and polite requests.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | activerais | I would activate | |
| tu | activerais | you would activate | |
| il / elle / on | activerait | he / she / it would activateon: we would activate / one would activate | |
| nous | activerions | we would activate | |
| vous | activeriez | you would activate | |
| ils / elles | activeraient | they would activate |
IN A SENTENCEConditional example
Paul activerait le système d'alarme.
Paul would activate the alarm system.
Present subjunctive Subjonctif présent
Dependent clauses expressing wishes, necessity, doubt, and certain feelings.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | active | (that) I activate | |
| tu | actives | (that) you activate | |
| il / elle / on | active | (that) he / she / it activateson: (that) we activate / one activates | |
| nous | activions | (that) we activate | |
| vous | activiez | (that) you activate | |
| ils / elles | activent | (that) they activate |
IN A SENTENCEPresent subjunctive example
Il est possible que Paul active le système d'alarme.
It is possible that Paul activates the alarm system.
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 activate (to encourage development or induce increased activity; to stimulate)
- to activate (to put a device, mechanism or system into action or motion; to enable)
- to activate (to render radioactive)
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