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 tie.”
Present Présent
Habits, current states, and actions happening now.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | attache | I tie | |
| tu | attaches | you tie | |
| il / elle / on | attache | he / she / it tieson: we tie / one ties | |
| nous | attachons | we tie | |
| vous | attachez | you tie | |
| ils / elles | attachent | they tie |
IN A SENTENCEPresent example
Paul attache le bateau au quai.
Paul ties the boat to the dock.
Passé composé
Completed past events, using avoir or être plus a past participle.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | ai attaché | I tied | |
| tu | as attaché | you tied | |
| il / elle / on | a attaché | he / she / it tiedon: we tied / one tied | |
| nous | avons attaché | we tied | |
| vous | avez attaché | you tied | |
| ils / elles | ont attaché | they tied |
IN A SENTENCEPassé composé example
Hier, Paul a attaché le bateau au quai.
Yesterday, Paul tied the boat to the dock.
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’ | attachais | I used to tie | |
| tu | attachais | you used to tie | |
| il / elle / on | attachait | he / she / it used to tieon: we used to tie / one used to tie | |
| nous | attachions | we used to tie | |
| vous | attachiez | you used to tie | |
| ils / elles | attachaient | they used to tie |
IN A SENTENCEImperfect example
Autrefois, Paul attachait le bateau au quai.
Back then, Paul used to tie the boat to the dock.
Future Futur simple
Future events and predictions.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | attacherai | I will tie | |
| tu | attacheras | you will tie | |
| il / elle / on | attachera | he / she / it will tieon: we will tie / one will tie | |
| nous | attacherons | we will tie | |
| vous | attacherez | you will tie | |
| ils / elles | attacheront | they will tie |
IN A SENTENCEFuture example
Plus tard, Paul attachera le bateau au quai.
Later, Paul will tie the boat to the dock.
Conditional Conditionnel présent
Hypothetical events and polite requests.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | attacherais | I would tie | |
| tu | attacherais | you would tie | |
| il / elle / on | attacherait | he / she / it would tieon: we would tie / one would tie | |
| nous | attacherions | we would tie | |
| vous | attacheriez | you would tie | |
| ils / elles | attacheraient | they would tie |
IN A SENTENCEConditional example
Paul attacherait le bateau au quai.
Paul would tie the boat to the dock.
Present subjunctive Subjonctif présent
Dependent clauses expressing wishes, necessity, doubt, and certain feelings.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | attache | (that) I tie | |
| tu | attaches | (that) you tie | |
| il / elle / on | attache | (that) he / she / it tieson: (that) we tie / one ties | |
| nous | attachions | (that) we tie | |
| vous | attachiez | (that) you tie | |
| ils / elles | attachent | (that) they tie |
IN A SENTENCEPresent subjunctive example
Il est possible que Paul attache le bateau au quai.
It is possible that Paul ties the boat to the dock.
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 affix, bind, tie something to something else, especially with rope
- to attach (durably bind, tie via links of emotional or physical dependence)
- to attach, attribute (a certain quality or value to)
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