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 catch.”
Present Présent
Habits, current states, and actions happening now.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | attrape | I catch | |
| tu | attrapes | you catch | |
| il / elle / on | attrape | he / she / it catcheson: we catch / one catches | |
| nous | attrapons | we catch | |
| vous | attrapez | you catch | |
| ils / elles | attrapent | they catch |
IN A SENTENCEPresent example
Paul attrape le ballon avec les deux mains.
Paul catches the ball with both hands.
Passé composé
Completed past events, using avoir or être plus a past participle.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | ai attrapé | I caught | |
| tu | as attrapé | you caught | |
| il / elle / on | a attrapé | he / she / it caughton: we caught / one caught | |
| nous | avons attrapé | we caught | |
| vous | avez attrapé | you caught | |
| ils / elles | ont attrapé | they caught |
IN A SENTENCEPassé composé example
Hier, Paul a attrapé le ballon avec les deux mains.
Yesterday, Paul caught the ball with both hands.
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’ | attrapais | I used to catch | |
| tu | attrapais | you used to catch | |
| il / elle / on | attrapait | he / she / it used to catchon: we used to catch / one used to catch | |
| nous | attrapions | we used to catch | |
| vous | attrapiez | you used to catch | |
| ils / elles | attrapaient | they used to catch |
IN A SENTENCEImperfect example
Autrefois, Paul attrapait le ballon avec les deux mains.
Back then, Paul used to catch the ball with both hands.
Future Futur simple
Future events and predictions.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | attraperai | I will catch | |
| tu | attraperas | you will catch | |
| il / elle / on | attrapera | he / she / it will catchon: we will catch / one will catch | |
| nous | attraperons | we will catch | |
| vous | attraperez | you will catch | |
| ils / elles | attraperont | they will catch |
IN A SENTENCEFuture example
Plus tard, Paul attrapera le ballon avec les deux mains.
Later, Paul will catch the ball with both hands.
Conditional Conditionnel présent
Hypothetical events and polite requests.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | attraperais | I would catch | |
| tu | attraperais | you would catch | |
| il / elle / on | attraperait | he / she / it would catchon: we would catch / one would catch | |
| nous | attraperions | we would catch | |
| vous | attraperiez | you would catch | |
| ils / elles | attraperaient | they would catch |
IN A SENTENCEConditional example
Paul attraperait le ballon avec les deux mains.
Paul would catch the ball with both hands.
Present subjunctive Subjonctif présent
Dependent clauses expressing wishes, necessity, doubt, and certain feelings.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | attrape | (that) I catch | |
| tu | attrapes | (that) you catch | |
| il / elle / on | attrape | (that) he / she / it catcheson: (that) we catch / one catches | |
| nous | attrapions | (that) we catch | |
| vous | attrapiez | (that) you catch | |
| ils / elles | attrapent | (that) they catch |
IN A SENTENCEPresent subjunctive example
Il est possible que Paul attrape le ballon avec les deux mains.
It is possible that Paul catches the ball with both hands.
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 trap (to capture in a trap)
- to catch (e.g. a ball)
- to catch (a cold etc.)
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