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 belong.”
Present Présent
Habits, current states, and actions happening now.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | appartiens | I belong | |
| tu | appartiens | you belong | |
| il / elle / on | appartient | he / she / it belongson: we belong / one belongs | |
| nous | appartenons | we belong | |
| vous | appartenez | you belong | |
| ils / elles | appartiennent | they belong |
IN A SENTENCEPresent example
Ce livre appartient à Paul.
This book belongs to Paul.
Passé composé
Completed past events, using avoir or être plus a past participle.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | ai appartenu | I belonged | |
| tu | as appartenu | you belonged | |
| il / elle / on | a appartenu | he / she / it belongedon: we belonged / one belonged | |
| nous | avons appartenu | we belonged | |
| vous | avez appartenu | you belonged | |
| ils / elles | ont appartenu | they belonged |
IN A SENTENCEPassé composé example
Hier, ce livre a appartenu à Paul.
Yesterday, this book belonged to Paul.
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’ | appartenais | I used to belong | |
| tu | appartenais | you used to belong | |
| il / elle / on | appartenait | he / she / it used to belongon: we used to belong / one used to belong | |
| nous | appartenions | we used to belong | |
| vous | apparteniez | you used to belong | |
| ils / elles | appartenaient | they used to belong |
IN A SENTENCEImperfect example
Autrefois, ce livre appartenait à Paul.
Back then, this book used to belong to Paul.
Future Futur simple
Future events and predictions.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | appartiendrai | I will belong | |
| tu | appartiendras | you will belong | |
| il / elle / on | appartiendra | he / she / it will belongon: we will belong / one will belong | |
| nous | appartiendrons | we will belong | |
| vous | appartiendrez | you will belong | |
| ils / elles | appartiendront | they will belong |
IN A SENTENCEFuture example
Plus tard, ce livre appartiendra à Paul.
Later, this book will belong to Paul.
Conditional Conditionnel présent
Hypothetical events and polite requests.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | appartiendrais | I would belong | |
| tu | appartiendrais | you would belong | |
| il / elle / on | appartiendrait | he / she / it would belongon: we would belong / one would belong | |
| nous | appartiendrions | we would belong | |
| vous | appartiendriez | you would belong | |
| ils / elles | appartiendraient | they would belong |
IN A SENTENCEConditional example
Ce livre appartiendrait à Paul.
This book would belong to Paul.
Present subjunctive Subjonctif présent
Dependent clauses expressing wishes, necessity, doubt, and certain feelings.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | appartienne | (that) I belong | |
| tu | appartiennes | (that) you belong | |
| il / elle / on | appartienne | (that) he / she / it belongson: (that) we belong / one belongs | |
| nous | appartenions | (that) we belong | |
| vous | apparteniez | (that) you belong | |
| ils / elles | appartiennent | (that) they belong |
IN A SENTENCEPresent subjunctive example
Il est possible que ce livre appartienne à Paul.
It is possible that this book belongs to Paul.
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 belong
- to concern
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