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 amuse.”
Present Présent
Habits, current states, and actions happening now.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | amuse | I amuse | |
| tu | amuses | you amuse | |
| il / elle / on | amuse | he / she / it amuseson: we amuse / one amuses | |
| nous | amusons | we amuse | |
| vous | amusez | you amuse | |
| ils / elles | amusent | they amuse |
IN A SENTENCEPresent example
Paul amuse ses amis avec une histoire.
Paul amuses his friends with a story.
Passé composé
Completed past events, using avoir or être plus a past participle.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | ai amusé | I amused | |
| tu | as amusé | you amused | |
| il / elle / on | a amusé | he / she / it amusedon: we amused / one amused | |
| nous | avons amusé | we amused | |
| vous | avez amusé | you amused | |
| ils / elles | ont amusé | they amused |
IN A SENTENCEPassé composé example
Hier, Paul a amusé ses amis avec une histoire.
Yesterday, Paul amused his friends with a story.
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’ | amusais | I used to amuse | |
| tu | amusais | you used to amuse | |
| il / elle / on | amusait | he / she / it used to amuseon: we used to amuse / one used to amuse | |
| nous | amusions | we used to amuse | |
| vous | amusiez | you used to amuse | |
| ils / elles | amusaient | they used to amuse |
IN A SENTENCEImperfect example
Autrefois, Paul amusait ses amis avec une histoire.
Back then, Paul used to amuse his friends with a story.
Future Futur simple
Future events and predictions.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | amuserai | I will amuse | |
| tu | amuseras | you will amuse | |
| il / elle / on | amusera | he / she / it will amuseon: we will amuse / one will amuse | |
| nous | amuserons | we will amuse | |
| vous | amuserez | you will amuse | |
| ils / elles | amuseront | they will amuse |
IN A SENTENCEFuture example
Plus tard, Paul amusera ses amis avec une histoire.
Later, Paul will amuse his friends with a story.
Conditional Conditionnel présent
Hypothetical events and polite requests.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | amuserais | I would amuse | |
| tu | amuserais | you would amuse | |
| il / elle / on | amuserait | he / she / it would amuseon: we would amuse / one would amuse | |
| nous | amuserions | we would amuse | |
| vous | amuseriez | you would amuse | |
| ils / elles | amuseraient | they would amuse |
IN A SENTENCEConditional example
Paul amuserait ses amis avec une histoire.
Paul would amuse his friends with a story.
Present subjunctive Subjonctif présent
Dependent clauses expressing wishes, necessity, doubt, and certain feelings.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | amuse | (that) I amuse | |
| tu | amuses | (that) you amuse | |
| il / elle / on | amuse | (that) he / she / it amuseson: (that) we amuse / one amuses | |
| nous | amusions | (that) we amuse | |
| vous | amusiez | (that) you amuse | |
| ils / elles | amusent | (that) they amuse |
IN A SENTENCEPresent subjunctive example
Il est possible que Paul amuse ses amis avec une histoire.
It is possible that Paul amuses his friends with a story.
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 amuse, to entertain
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