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 lay down.”
Present Présent
Habits, current states, and actions happening now.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | allonge | I lay down | |
| tu | allonges | you lay down | |
| il / elle / on | allonge | he / she / it lays downon: we lay down / one lays down | |
| nous | allongeons | we lay down | |
| vous | allongez | you lay down | |
| ils / elles | allongent | they lay down |
IN A SENTENCEPresent example
Paul allonge le bébé sur le lit.
Paul lays down the baby on the bed.
Passé composé
Completed past events, using avoir or être plus a past participle.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | ai allongé | I laid down | |
| tu | as allongé | you laid down | |
| il / elle / on | a allongé | he / she / it laid downon: we laid down / one laid down | |
| nous | avons allongé | we laid down | |
| vous | avez allongé | you laid down | |
| ils / elles | ont allongé | they laid down |
IN A SENTENCEPassé composé example
Hier, Paul a allongé le bébé sur le lit.
Yesterday, Paul laid down the baby on the bed.
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’ | allongeais | I used to lay down | |
| tu | allongeais | you used to lay down | |
| il / elle / on | allongeait | he / she / it used to lay downon: we used to lay down / one used to lay down | |
| nous | allongions | we used to lay down | |
| vous | allongiez | you used to lay down | |
| ils / elles | allongeaient | they used to lay down |
IN A SENTENCEImperfect example
Autrefois, Paul allongeait le bébé sur le lit.
Back then, Paul used to lay down the baby on the bed.
Future Futur simple
Future events and predictions.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | allongerai | I will lay down | |
| tu | allongeras | you will lay down | |
| il / elle / on | allongera | he / she / it will lay downon: we will lay down / one will lay down | |
| nous | allongerons | we will lay down | |
| vous | allongerez | you will lay down | |
| ils / elles | allongeront | they will lay down |
IN A SENTENCEFuture example
Plus tard, Paul allongera le bébé sur le lit.
Later, Paul will lay down the baby on the bed.
Conditional Conditionnel présent
Hypothetical events and polite requests.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | allongerais | I would lay down | |
| tu | allongerais | you would lay down | |
| il / elle / on | allongerait | he / she / it would lay downon: we would lay down / one would lay down | |
| nous | allongerions | we would lay down | |
| vous | allongeriez | you would lay down | |
| ils / elles | allongeraient | they would lay down |
IN A SENTENCEConditional example
Paul allongerait le bébé sur le lit.
Paul would lay down the baby on the bed.
Present subjunctive Subjonctif présent
Dependent clauses expressing wishes, necessity, doubt, and certain feelings.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | allonge | (that) I lay down | |
| tu | allonges | (that) you lay down | |
| il / elle / on | allonge | (that) he / she / it lays downon: (that) we lay down / one lays down | |
| nous | allongions | (that) we lay down | |
| vous | allongiez | (that) you lay down | |
| ils / elles | allongent | (that) they lay down |
IN A SENTENCEPresent subjunctive example
Il est possible que Paul allonge le bébé sur le lit.
It is possible that Paul lays down the baby on the bed.
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 lay down
- to lengthen, to make longer, to extend
- to extend out, to stretch
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