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 approve.”
Present Présent
Habits, current states, and actions happening now.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | approuve | I approve | |
| tu | approuves | you approve | |
| il / elle / on | approuve | he / she / it approveson: we approve / one approves | |
| nous | approuvons | we approve | |
| vous | approuvez | you approve | |
| ils / elles | approuvent | they approve |
IN A SENTENCEPresent example
Paul approuve le budget de l'association.
Paul approves the association's budget.
Passé composé
Completed past events, using avoir or être plus a past participle.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | ai approuvé | I approved | |
| tu | as approuvé | you approved | |
| il / elle / on | a approuvé | he / she / it approvedon: we approved / one approved | |
| nous | avons approuvé | we approved | |
| vous | avez approuvé | you approved | |
| ils / elles | ont approuvé | they approved |
IN A SENTENCEPassé composé example
Hier, Paul a approuvé le budget de l'association.
Yesterday, Paul approved the association's budget.
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’ | approuvais | I used to approve | |
| tu | approuvais | you used to approve | |
| il / elle / on | approuvait | he / she / it used to approveon: we used to approve / one used to approve | |
| nous | approuvions | we used to approve | |
| vous | approuviez | you used to approve | |
| ils / elles | approuvaient | they used to approve |
IN A SENTENCEImperfect example
Autrefois, Paul approuvait le budget de l'association.
Back then, Paul used to approve the association's budget.
Future Futur simple
Future events and predictions.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | approuverai | I will approve | |
| tu | approuveras | you will approve | |
| il / elle / on | approuvera | he / she / it will approveon: we will approve / one will approve | |
| nous | approuverons | we will approve | |
| vous | approuverez | you will approve | |
| ils / elles | approuveront | they will approve |
IN A SENTENCEFuture example
Plus tard, Paul approuvera le budget de l'association.
Later, Paul will approve the association's budget.
Conditional Conditionnel présent
Hypothetical events and polite requests.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | approuverais | I would approve | |
| tu | approuverais | you would approve | |
| il / elle / on | approuverait | he / she / it would approveon: we would approve / one would approve | |
| nous | approuverions | we would approve | |
| vous | approuveriez | you would approve | |
| ils / elles | approuveraient | they would approve |
IN A SENTENCEConditional example
Paul approuverait le budget de l'association.
Paul would approve the association's budget.
Present subjunctive Subjonctif présent
Dependent clauses expressing wishes, necessity, doubt, and certain feelings.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | approuve | (that) I approve | |
| tu | approuves | (that) you approve | |
| il / elle / on | approuve | (that) he / she / it approveson: (that) we approve / one approves | |
| nous | approuvions | (that) we approve | |
| vous | approuviez | (that) you approve | |
| ils / elles | approuvent | (that) they approve |
IN A SENTENCEPresent subjunctive example
Il est possible que Paul approuve le budget de l'association.
It is possible that Paul approves the association's budget.
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 approve of
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