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 fasten.”
Present Présent
Habits, current states, and actions happening now.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | boucle | I fasten | |
| tu | boucles | you fasten | |
| il / elle / on | boucle | he / she / it fastenson: we fasten / one fastens | |
| nous | bouclons | we fasten | |
| vous | bouclez | you fasten | |
| ils / elles | bouclent | they fasten |
IN A SENTENCEPresent example
Paul boucle sa ceinture de sécurité.
Paul fastens his seat belt.
Passé composé
Completed past events, using avoir or être plus a past participle.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | ai bouclé | I fastened | |
| tu | as bouclé | you fastened | |
| il / elle / on | a bouclé | he / she / it fastenedon: we fastened / one fastened | |
| nous | avons bouclé | we fastened | |
| vous | avez bouclé | you fastened | |
| ils / elles | ont bouclé | they fastened |
IN A SENTENCEPassé composé example
Hier, Paul a bouclé sa ceinture de sécurité.
Yesterday, Paul fastened his seat belt.
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’ | bouclais | I used to fasten | |
| tu | bouclais | you used to fasten | |
| il / elle / on | bouclait | he / she / it used to fastenon: we used to fasten / one used to fasten | |
| nous | bouclions | we used to fasten | |
| vous | boucliez | you used to fasten | |
| ils / elles | bouclaient | they used to fasten |
IN A SENTENCEImperfect example
Autrefois, Paul bouclait sa ceinture de sécurité.
Back then, Paul used to fasten his seat belt.
Future Futur simple
Future events and predictions.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | bouclerai | I will fasten | |
| tu | boucleras | you will fasten | |
| il / elle / on | bouclera | he / she / it will fastenon: we will fasten / one will fasten | |
| nous | bouclerons | we will fasten | |
| vous | bouclerez | you will fasten | |
| ils / elles | boucleront | they will fasten |
IN A SENTENCEFuture example
Plus tard, Paul bouclera sa ceinture de sécurité.
Later, Paul will fasten his seat belt.
Conditional Conditionnel présent
Hypothetical events and polite requests.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | bouclerais | I would fasten | |
| tu | bouclerais | you would fasten | |
| il / elle / on | bouclerait | he / she / it would fastenon: we would fasten / one would fasten | |
| nous | bouclerions | we would fasten | |
| vous | boucleriez | you would fasten | |
| ils / elles | boucleraient | they would fasten |
IN A SENTENCEConditional example
Paul bouclerait sa ceinture de sécurité.
Paul would fasten his seat belt.
Present subjunctive Subjonctif présent
Dependent clauses expressing wishes, necessity, doubt, and certain feelings.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | boucle | (that) I fasten | |
| tu | boucles | (that) you fasten | |
| il / elle / on | boucle | (that) he / she / it fastenson: (that) we fasten / one fastens | |
| nous | bouclions | (that) we fasten | |
| vous | boucliez | (that) you fasten | |
| ils / elles | bouclent | (that) they fasten |
IN A SENTENCEPresent subjunctive example
Il est possible que Paul boucle sa ceinture de sécurité.
It is possible that Paul fastens his seat belt.
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 buckle (to fasten)
- to curl (make curly)
- to tie up, to finish up (e.g. an affair or case)
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