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 reach.”
Present Présent
Habits, current states, and actions happening now.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | atteins | I reach | |
| tu | atteins | you reach | |
| il / elle / on | atteint | he / she / it reacheson: we reach / one reaches | |
| nous | atteignons | we reach | |
| vous | atteignez | you reach | |
| ils / elles | atteignent | they reach |
IN A SENTENCEPresent example
Paul atteint le sommet de la colline.
Paul reaches the top of the hill.
Passé composé
Completed past events, using avoir or être plus a past participle.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | ai atteint | I reached | |
| tu | as atteint | you reached | |
| il / elle / on | a atteint | he / she / it reachedon: we reached / one reached | |
| nous | avons atteint | we reached | |
| vous | avez atteint | you reached | |
| ils / elles | ont atteint | they reached |
IN A SENTENCEPassé composé example
Hier, Paul a atteint le sommet de la colline.
Yesterday, Paul reached the top of the hill.
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’ | atteignais | I used to reach | |
| tu | atteignais | you used to reach | |
| il / elle / on | atteignait | he / she / it used to reachon: we used to reach / one used to reach | |
| nous | atteignions | we used to reach | |
| vous | atteigniez | you used to reach | |
| ils / elles | atteignaient | they used to reach |
IN A SENTENCEImperfect example
Autrefois, Paul atteignait le sommet de la colline.
Back then, Paul used to reach the top of the hill.
Future Futur simple
Future events and predictions.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | atteindrai | I will reach | |
| tu | atteindras | you will reach | |
| il / elle / on | atteindra | he / she / it will reachon: we will reach / one will reach | |
| nous | atteindrons | we will reach | |
| vous | atteindrez | you will reach | |
| ils / elles | atteindront | they will reach |
IN A SENTENCEFuture example
Plus tard, Paul atteindra le sommet de la colline.
Later, Paul will reach the top of the hill.
Conditional Conditionnel présent
Hypothetical events and polite requests.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | atteindrais | I would reach | |
| tu | atteindrais | you would reach | |
| il / elle / on | atteindrait | he / she / it would reachon: we would reach / one would reach | |
| nous | atteindrions | we would reach | |
| vous | atteindriez | you would reach | |
| ils / elles | atteindraient | they would reach |
IN A SENTENCEConditional example
Paul atteindrait le sommet de la colline.
Paul would reach the top of the hill.
Present subjunctive Subjonctif présent
Dependent clauses expressing wishes, necessity, doubt, and certain feelings.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | atteigne | (that) I reach | |
| tu | atteignes | (that) you reach | |
| il / elle / on | atteigne | (that) he / she / it reacheson: (that) we reach / one reaches | |
| nous | atteignions | (that) we reach | |
| vous | atteigniez | (that) you reach | |
| ils / elles | atteignent | (that) they reach |
IN A SENTENCEPresent subjunctive example
Il est possible que Paul atteigne le sommet de la colline.
It is possible that Paul reaches the top of the hill.
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 attain
- to reach
- to accomplish
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