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 pull out.”
Present Présent
Habits, current states, and actions happening now.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | arrache | I pull out | |
| tu | arraches | you pull out | |
| il / elle / on | arrache | he / she / it pulls outon: we pull out / one pulls out | |
| nous | arrachons | we pull out | |
| vous | arrachez | you pull out | |
| ils / elles | arrachent | they pull out |
IN A SENTENCEPresent example
Paul arrache les mauvaises herbes du jardin.
Paul pulls out the weeds in the garden.
Passé composé
Completed past events, using avoir or être plus a past participle.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | ai arraché | I pulled out | |
| tu | as arraché | you pulled out | |
| il / elle / on | a arraché | he / she / it pulled outon: we pulled out / one pulled out | |
| nous | avons arraché | we pulled out | |
| vous | avez arraché | you pulled out | |
| ils / elles | ont arraché | they pulled out |
IN A SENTENCEPassé composé example
Hier, Paul a arraché les mauvaises herbes du jardin.
Yesterday, Paul pulled out the weeds in the garden.
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’ | arrachais | I used to pull out | |
| tu | arrachais | you used to pull out | |
| il / elle / on | arrachait | he / she / it used to pull outon: we used to pull out / one used to pull out | |
| nous | arrachions | we used to pull out | |
| vous | arrachiez | you used to pull out | |
| ils / elles | arrachaient | they used to pull out |
IN A SENTENCEImperfect example
Autrefois, Paul arrachait les mauvaises herbes du jardin.
Back then, Paul used to pull out the weeds in the garden.
Future Futur simple
Future events and predictions.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | arracherai | I will pull out | |
| tu | arracheras | you will pull out | |
| il / elle / on | arrachera | he / she / it will pull outon: we will pull out / one will pull out | |
| nous | arracherons | we will pull out | |
| vous | arracherez | you will pull out | |
| ils / elles | arracheront | they will pull out |
IN A SENTENCEFuture example
Plus tard, Paul arrachera les mauvaises herbes du jardin.
Later, Paul will pull out the weeds in the garden.
Conditional Conditionnel présent
Hypothetical events and polite requests.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | arracherais | I would pull out | |
| tu | arracherais | you would pull out | |
| il / elle / on | arracherait | he / she / it would pull outon: we would pull out / one would pull out | |
| nous | arracherions | we would pull out | |
| vous | arracheriez | you would pull out | |
| ils / elles | arracheraient | they would pull out |
IN A SENTENCEConditional example
Paul arracherait les mauvaises herbes du jardin.
Paul would pull out the weeds in the garden.
Present subjunctive Subjonctif présent
Dependent clauses expressing wishes, necessity, doubt, and certain feelings.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | arrache | (that) I pull out | |
| tu | arraches | (that) you pull out | |
| il / elle / on | arrache | (that) he / she / it pulls outon: (that) we pull out / one pulls out | |
| nous | arrachions | (that) we pull out | |
| vous | arrachiez | (that) you pull out | |
| ils / elles | arrachent | (that) they pull out |
IN A SENTENCEPresent subjunctive example
Il est possible que Paul arrache les mauvaises herbes du jardin.
It is possible that Paul pulls out the weeds in the garden.
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 uproot, pull up, tear out
- to extract, take out (a tooth)
- to pull off, rip off, peel
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