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 press.”
Present Présent
Habits, current states, and actions happening now.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | appuie | I press | |
| tu | appuies | you press | |
| il / elle / on | appuie | he / she / it presseson: we press / one presses | |
| nous | appuyons | we press | |
| vous | appuyez | you press | |
| ils / elles | appuient | they press |
IN A SENTENCEPresent example
Paul appuie sur le bouton rouge.
Paul presses the red button.
Passé composé
Completed past events, using avoir or être plus a past participle.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | ai appuyé | I pressed | |
| tu | as appuyé | you pressed | |
| il / elle / on | a appuyé | he / she / it pressedon: we pressed / one pressed | |
| nous | avons appuyé | we pressed | |
| vous | avez appuyé | you pressed | |
| ils / elles | ont appuyé | they pressed |
IN A SENTENCEPassé composé example
Hier, Paul a appuyé sur le bouton rouge.
Yesterday, Paul pressed the red button.
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’ | appuyais | I used to press | |
| tu | appuyais | you used to press | |
| il / elle / on | appuyait | he / she / it used to presson: we used to press / one used to press | |
| nous | appuyions | we used to press | |
| vous | appuyiez | you used to press | |
| ils / elles | appuyaient | they used to press |
IN A SENTENCEImperfect example
Autrefois, Paul appuyait sur le bouton rouge.
Back then, Paul used to press the red button.
Future Futur simple
Future events and predictions.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | appuierai | I will press | |
| tu | appuieras | you will press | |
| il / elle / on | appuiera | he / she / it will presson: we will press / one will press | |
| nous | appuierons | we will press | |
| vous | appuierez | you will press | |
| ils / elles | appuieront | they will press |
IN A SENTENCEFuture example
Plus tard, Paul appuiera sur le bouton rouge.
Later, Paul will press the red button.
Conditional Conditionnel présent
Hypothetical events and polite requests.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | appuierais | I would press | |
| tu | appuierais | you would press | |
| il / elle / on | appuierait | he / she / it would presson: we would press / one would press | |
| nous | appuierions | we would press | |
| vous | appuieriez | you would press | |
| ils / elles | appuieraient | they would press |
IN A SENTENCEConditional example
Paul appuierait sur le bouton rouge.
Paul would press the red button.
Present subjunctive Subjonctif présent
Dependent clauses expressing wishes, necessity, doubt, and certain feelings.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | appuie | (that) I press | |
| tu | appuies | (that) you press | |
| il / elle / on | appuie | (that) he / she / it presseson: (that) we press / one presses | |
| nous | appuyions | (that) we press | |
| vous | appuyiez | (that) you press | |
| ils / elles | appuient | (that) they press |
IN A SENTENCEPresent subjunctive example
Il est possible que Paul appuie sur le bouton rouge.
It is possible that Paul presses the red button.
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 press, push
- to rest
- to support, to back
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