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 sweep.”
Present Présent
Habits, current states, and actions happening now.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | balaye / balaie | I sweep | |
| tu | balayes / balaies | you sweep | |
| il / elle / on | balaye / balaie | he / she / it sweepson: we sweep / one sweeps | |
| nous | balayons | we sweep | |
| vous | balayez | you sweep | |
| ils / elles | balayent / balaient | they sweep |
IN A SENTENCEPresent example
Paul balaye le sol de la cuisine.
Paul sweeps the kitchen floor.
Passé composé
Completed past events, using avoir or être plus a past participle.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | ai balayé | I swept | |
| tu | as balayé | you swept | |
| il / elle / on | a balayé | he / she / it swepton: we swept / one swept | |
| nous | avons balayé | we swept | |
| vous | avez balayé | you swept | |
| ils / elles | ont balayé | they swept |
IN A SENTENCEPassé composé example
Hier, Paul a balayé le sol de la cuisine.
Yesterday, Paul swept the kitchen floor.
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’ | balayais | I used to sweep | |
| tu | balayais | you used to sweep | |
| il / elle / on | balayait | he / she / it used to sweepon: we used to sweep / one used to sweep | |
| nous | balayions | we used to sweep | |
| vous | balayiez | you used to sweep | |
| ils / elles | balayaient | they used to sweep |
IN A SENTENCEImperfect example
Autrefois, Paul balayait le sol de la cuisine.
Back then, Paul used to sweep the kitchen floor.
Future Futur simple
Future events and predictions.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | balayerai / balaierai | I will sweep | |
| tu | balayeras / balaieras | you will sweep | |
| il / elle / on | balayera / balaiera | he / she / it will sweepon: we will sweep / one will sweep | |
| nous | balayerons / balaierons | we will sweep | |
| vous | balayerez / balaierez | you will sweep | |
| ils / elles | balayeront / balaieront | they will sweep |
IN A SENTENCEFuture example
Plus tard, Paul balayera le sol de la cuisine.
Later, Paul will sweep the kitchen floor.
Conditional Conditionnel présent
Hypothetical events and polite requests.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | balayerais / balaierais | I would sweep | |
| tu | balayerais / balaierais | you would sweep | |
| il / elle / on | balayerait / balaierait | he / she / it would sweepon: we would sweep / one would sweep | |
| nous | balayerions / balaierions | we would sweep | |
| vous | balayeriez / balaieriez | you would sweep | |
| ils / elles | balayeraient / balaieraient | they would sweep |
IN A SENTENCEConditional example
Paul balayerait le sol de la cuisine.
Paul would sweep the kitchen floor.
Present subjunctive Subjonctif présent
Dependent clauses expressing wishes, necessity, doubt, and certain feelings.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | balaye / balaie | (that) I sweep | |
| tu | balayes / balaies | (that) you sweep | |
| il / elle / on | balaye / balaie | (that) he / she / it sweepson: (that) we sweep / one sweeps | |
| nous | balayions | (that) we sweep | |
| vous | balayiez | (that) you sweep | |
| ils / elles | balayent / balaient | (that) they sweep |
IN A SENTENCEPresent subjunctive example
Il est possible que Paul balaye le sol de la cuisine.
It is possible that Paul sweeps the kitchen floor.
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 sweep
- to sweep aside, brush aside
- to drag on the floor
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