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 dread.”
Present Présent
Habits, current states, and actions happening now.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | appréhende | I dread | |
| tu | appréhendes | you dread | |
| il / elle / on | appréhende | he / she / it dreadson: we dread / one dreads | |
| nous | appréhendons | we dread | |
| vous | appréhendez | you dread | |
| ils / elles | appréhendent | they dread |
IN A SENTENCEPresent example
Paul appréhende son entretien d'embauche.
Paul dreads his job interview.
Passé composé
Completed past events, using avoir or être plus a past participle.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | ai appréhendé | I dreaded | |
| tu | as appréhendé | you dreaded | |
| il / elle / on | a appréhendé | he / she / it dreadedon: we dreaded / one dreaded | |
| nous | avons appréhendé | we dreaded | |
| vous | avez appréhendé | you dreaded | |
| ils / elles | ont appréhendé | they dreaded |
IN A SENTENCEPassé composé example
Hier, Paul a appréhendé son entretien d'embauche.
Yesterday, Paul dreaded his job interview.
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’ | appréhendais | I used to dread | |
| tu | appréhendais | you used to dread | |
| il / elle / on | appréhendait | he / she / it used to dreadon: we used to dread / one used to dread | |
| nous | appréhendions | we used to dread | |
| vous | appréhendiez | you used to dread | |
| ils / elles | appréhendaient | they used to dread |
IN A SENTENCEImperfect example
Autrefois, Paul appréhendait son entretien d'embauche.
Back then, Paul used to dread his job interview.
Future Futur simple
Future events and predictions.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | appréhenderai | I will dread | |
| tu | appréhenderas | you will dread | |
| il / elle / on | appréhendera | he / she / it will dreadon: we will dread / one will dread | |
| nous | appréhenderons | we will dread | |
| vous | appréhenderez | you will dread | |
| ils / elles | appréhenderont | they will dread |
IN A SENTENCEFuture example
Plus tard, Paul appréhendera son entretien d'embauche.
Later, Paul will dread his job interview.
Conditional Conditionnel présent
Hypothetical events and polite requests.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | appréhenderais | I would dread | |
| tu | appréhenderais | you would dread | |
| il / elle / on | appréhenderait | he / she / it would dreadon: we would dread / one would dread | |
| nous | appréhenderions | we would dread | |
| vous | appréhenderiez | you would dread | |
| ils / elles | appréhenderaient | they would dread |
IN A SENTENCEConditional example
Paul appréhenderait son entretien d'embauche.
Paul would dread his job interview.
Present subjunctive Subjonctif présent
Dependent clauses expressing wishes, necessity, doubt, and certain feelings.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | appréhende | (that) I dread | |
| tu | appréhendes | (that) you dread | |
| il / elle / on | appréhende | (that) he / she / it dreadson: (that) we dread / one dreads | |
| nous | appréhendions | (that) we dread | |
| vous | appréhendiez | (that) you dread | |
| ils / elles | appréhendent | (that) they dread |
IN A SENTENCEPresent subjunctive example
Il est possible que Paul appréhende son entretien d'embauche.
It is possible that Paul dreads his job interview.
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 dread, apprehend
- to catch, apprehend
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