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 attract.”
Present Présent
Habits, current states, and actions happening now.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | attire | I attract | |
| tu | attires | you attract | |
| il / elle / on | attire | he / she / it attractson: we attract / one attracts | |
| nous | attirons | we attract | |
| vous | attirez | you attract | |
| ils / elles | attirent | they attract |
IN A SENTENCEPresent example
Paul attire l'attention du public.
Paul attracts the audience's attention.
Passé composé
Completed past events, using avoir or être plus a past participle.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | ai attiré | I attracted | |
| tu | as attiré | you attracted | |
| il / elle / on | a attiré | he / she / it attractedon: we attracted / one attracted | |
| nous | avons attiré | we attracted | |
| vous | avez attiré | you attracted | |
| ils / elles | ont attiré | they attracted |
IN A SENTENCEPassé composé example
Hier, Paul a attiré l'attention du public.
Yesterday, Paul attracted the audience's attention.
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’ | attirais | I used to attract | |
| tu | attirais | you used to attract | |
| il / elle / on | attirait | he / she / it used to attracton: we used to attract / one used to attract | |
| nous | attirions | we used to attract | |
| vous | attiriez | you used to attract | |
| ils / elles | attiraient | they used to attract |
IN A SENTENCEImperfect example
Autrefois, Paul attirait l'attention du public.
Back then, Paul used to attract the audience's attention.
Future Futur simple
Future events and predictions.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | attirerai | I will attract | |
| tu | attireras | you will attract | |
| il / elle / on | attirera | he / she / it will attracton: we will attract / one will attract | |
| nous | attirerons | we will attract | |
| vous | attirerez | you will attract | |
| ils / elles | attireront | they will attract |
IN A SENTENCEFuture example
Plus tard, Paul attirera l'attention du public.
Later, Paul will attract the audience's attention.
Conditional Conditionnel présent
Hypothetical events and polite requests.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | attirerais | I would attract | |
| tu | attirerais | you would attract | |
| il / elle / on | attirerait | he / she / it would attracton: we would attract / one would attract | |
| nous | attirerions | we would attract | |
| vous | attireriez | you would attract | |
| ils / elles | attireraient | they would attract |
IN A SENTENCEConditional example
Paul attirerait l'attention du public.
Paul would attract the audience's attention.
Present subjunctive Subjonctif présent
Dependent clauses expressing wishes, necessity, doubt, and certain feelings.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | attire | (that) I attract | |
| tu | attires | (that) you attract | |
| il / elle / on | attire | (that) he / she / it attractson: (that) we attract / one attracts | |
| nous | attirions | (that) we attract | |
| vous | attiriez | (that) you attract | |
| ils / elles | attirent | (that) they attract |
IN A SENTENCEPresent subjunctive example
Il est possible que Paul attire l'attention du public.
It is possible that Paul attracts the audience's attention.
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 attract
- to lure, to entice
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