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 applaud.”
Present Présent
Habits, current states, and actions happening now.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | applaudis | I applaud | |
| tu | applaudis | you applaud | |
| il / elle / on | applaudit | he / she / it applaudson: we applaud / one applauds | |
| nous | applaudissons | we applaud | |
| vous | applaudissez | you applaud | |
| ils / elles | applaudissent | they applaud |
IN A SENTENCEPresent example
Paul applaudit les musiciens à la fin du concert.
Paul applauds the musicians at the end of the concert.
Passé composé
Completed past events, using avoir or être plus a past participle.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | ai applaudi | I applauded | |
| tu | as applaudi | you applauded | |
| il / elle / on | a applaudi | he / she / it applaudedon: we applauded / one applauded | |
| nous | avons applaudi | we applauded | |
| vous | avez applaudi | you applauded | |
| ils / elles | ont applaudi | they applauded |
IN A SENTENCEPassé composé example
Hier, Paul a applaudi les musiciens à la fin du concert.
Yesterday, Paul applauded the musicians at the end of the concert.
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’ | applaudissais | I used to applaud | |
| tu | applaudissais | you used to applaud | |
| il / elle / on | applaudissait | he / she / it used to applaudon: we used to applaud / one used to applaud | |
| nous | applaudissions | we used to applaud | |
| vous | applaudissiez | you used to applaud | |
| ils / elles | applaudissaient | they used to applaud |
IN A SENTENCEImperfect example
Autrefois, Paul applaudissait les musiciens à la fin du concert.
Back then, Paul used to applaud the musicians at the end of the concert.
Future Futur simple
Future events and predictions.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | applaudirai | I will applaud | |
| tu | applaudiras | you will applaud | |
| il / elle / on | applaudira | he / she / it will applaudon: we will applaud / one will applaud | |
| nous | applaudirons | we will applaud | |
| vous | applaudirez | you will applaud | |
| ils / elles | applaudiront | they will applaud |
IN A SENTENCEFuture example
Plus tard, Paul applaudira les musiciens à la fin du concert.
Later, Paul will applaud the musicians at the end of the concert.
Conditional Conditionnel présent
Hypothetical events and polite requests.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | applaudirais | I would applaud | |
| tu | applaudirais | you would applaud | |
| il / elle / on | applaudirait | he / she / it would applaudon: we would applaud / one would applaud | |
| nous | applaudirions | we would applaud | |
| vous | applaudiriez | you would applaud | |
| ils / elles | applaudiraient | they would applaud |
IN A SENTENCEConditional example
Paul applaudirait les musiciens à la fin du concert.
Paul would applaud the musicians at the end of the concert.
Present subjunctive Subjonctif présent
Dependent clauses expressing wishes, necessity, doubt, and certain feelings.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | applaudisse | (that) I applaud | |
| tu | applaudisses | (that) you applaud | |
| il / elle / on | applaudisse | (that) he / she / it applaudson: (that) we applaud / one applauds | |
| nous | applaudissions | (that) we applaud | |
| vous | applaudissiez | (that) you applaud | |
| ils / elles | applaudissent | (that) they applaud |
IN A SENTENCEPresent subjunctive example
Il est possible que Paul applaudisse les musiciens à la fin du concert.
It is possible that Paul applauds the musicians at the end of the concert.
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 applaud (express approval by clapping)
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