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 blame.”
Present Présent
Habits, current states, and actions happening now.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | blâme | I blame | |
| tu | blâmes | you blame | |
| il / elle / on | blâme | he / she / it blameson: we blame / one blames | |
| nous | blâmons | we blame | |
| vous | blâmez | you blame | |
| ils / elles | blâment | they blame |
IN A SENTENCEPresent example
Paul blâme le conducteur pour l'accident.
Paul blames the driver for the accident.
Passé composé
Completed past events, using avoir or être plus a past participle.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | ai blâmé | I blamed | |
| tu | as blâmé | you blamed | |
| il / elle / on | a blâmé | he / she / it blamedon: we blamed / one blamed | |
| nous | avons blâmé | we blamed | |
| vous | avez blâmé | you blamed | |
| ils / elles | ont blâmé | they blamed |
IN A SENTENCEPassé composé example
Hier, Paul a blâmé le conducteur pour l'accident.
Yesterday, Paul blamed the driver for the accident.
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’ | blâmais | I used to blame | |
| tu | blâmais | you used to blame | |
| il / elle / on | blâmait | he / she / it used to blameon: we used to blame / one used to blame | |
| nous | blâmions | we used to blame | |
| vous | blâmiez | you used to blame | |
| ils / elles | blâmaient | they used to blame |
IN A SENTENCEImperfect example
Autrefois, Paul blâmait le conducteur pour l'accident.
Back then, Paul used to blame the driver for the accident.
Future Futur simple
Future events and predictions.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | blâmerai | I will blame | |
| tu | blâmeras | you will blame | |
| il / elle / on | blâmera | he / she / it will blameon: we will blame / one will blame | |
| nous | blâmerons | we will blame | |
| vous | blâmerez | you will blame | |
| ils / elles | blâmeront | they will blame |
IN A SENTENCEFuture example
Plus tard, Paul blâmera le conducteur pour l'accident.
Later, Paul will blame the driver for the accident.
Conditional Conditionnel présent
Hypothetical events and polite requests.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | blâmerais | I would blame | |
| tu | blâmerais | you would blame | |
| il / elle / on | blâmerait | he / she / it would blameon: we would blame / one would blame | |
| nous | blâmerions | we would blame | |
| vous | blâmeriez | you would blame | |
| ils / elles | blâmeraient | they would blame |
IN A SENTENCEConditional example
Paul blâmerait le conducteur pour l'accident.
Paul would blame the driver for the accident.
Present subjunctive Subjonctif présent
Dependent clauses expressing wishes, necessity, doubt, and certain feelings.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | blâme | (that) I blame | |
| tu | blâmes | (that) you blame | |
| il / elle / on | blâme | (that) he / she / it blameson: (that) we blame / one blames | |
| nous | blâmions | (that) we blame | |
| vous | blâmiez | (that) you blame | |
| ils / elles | blâment | (that) they blame |
IN A SENTENCEPresent subjunctive example
Il est possible que Paul blâme le conducteur pour l'accident.
It is possible that Paul blames the driver for the accident.
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
- criticize, pass censure on
- reprimand
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