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 tip over.”
Present Présent
Habits, current states, and actions happening now.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | bascule | I tip over | |
| tu | bascules | you tip over | |
| il / elle / on | bascule | he / she / it tips overon: we tip over / one tips over | |
| nous | basculons | we tip over | |
| vous | basculez | you tip over | |
| ils / elles | basculent | they tip over |
IN A SENTENCEPresent example
Le chariot bascule dans le fossé.
The cart tips over into the ditch.
Passé composé
Completed past events, using avoir or être plus a past participle.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | ai basculé | I tipped over | |
| tu | as basculé | you tipped over | |
| il / elle / on | a basculé | he / she / it tipped overon: we tipped over / one tipped over | |
| nous | avons basculé | we tipped over | |
| vous | avez basculé | you tipped over | |
| ils / elles | ont basculé | they tipped over |
IN A SENTENCEPassé composé example
Hier, le chariot a basculé dans le fossé.
Yesterday, the cart tipped over into the ditch.
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’ | basculais | I used to tip over | |
| tu | basculais | you used to tip over | |
| il / elle / on | basculait | he / she / it used to tip overon: we used to tip over / one used to tip over | |
| nous | basculions | we used to tip over | |
| vous | basculiez | you used to tip over | |
| ils / elles | basculaient | they used to tip over |
IN A SENTENCEImperfect example
Autrefois, le chariot basculait dans le fossé.
Back then, the cart used to tip over into the ditch.
Future Futur simple
Future events and predictions.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | basculerai | I will tip over | |
| tu | basculeras | you will tip over | |
| il / elle / on | basculera | he / she / it will tip overon: we will tip over / one will tip over | |
| nous | basculerons | we will tip over | |
| vous | basculerez | you will tip over | |
| ils / elles | basculeront | they will tip over |
IN A SENTENCEFuture example
Plus tard, le chariot basculera dans le fossé.
Later, the cart will tip over into the ditch.
Conditional Conditionnel présent
Hypothetical events and polite requests.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | basculerais | I would tip over | |
| tu | basculerais | you would tip over | |
| il / elle / on | basculerait | he / she / it would tip overon: we would tip over / one would tip over | |
| nous | basculerions | we would tip over | |
| vous | basculeriez | you would tip over | |
| ils / elles | basculeraient | they would tip over |
IN A SENTENCEConditional example
Le chariot basculerait dans le fossé.
The cart would tip over into the ditch.
Present subjunctive Subjonctif présent
Dependent clauses expressing wishes, necessity, doubt, and certain feelings.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | bascule | (that) I tip over | |
| tu | bascules | (that) you tip over | |
| il / elle / on | bascule | (that) he / she / it tips overon: (that) we tip over / one tips over | |
| nous | basculions | (that) we tip over | |
| vous | basculiez | (that) you tip over | |
| ils / elles | basculent | (that) they tip over |
IN A SENTENCEPresent subjunctive example
Il est possible que le chariot bascule dans le fossé.
It is possible that the cart tips over into the ditch.
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 topple, to tip over
- to sway from side to side
- to fall apart, to turn upside down
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