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 boil.”
Present Présent
Habits, current states, and actions happening now.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | bous | I boil | |
| tu | bous | you boil | |
| il / elle / on | bout | he / she / it boilson: we boil / one boils | |
| nous | bouillons | we boil | |
| vous | bouillez | you boil | |
| ils / elles | bouillent | they boil |
IN A SENTENCEPresent example
Le lait bout dans la casserole.
The milk boils in the saucepan.
Passé composé
Completed past events, using avoir or être plus a past participle.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | ai bouilli | I boiled | |
| tu | as bouilli | you boiled | |
| il / elle / on | a bouilli | he / she / it boiledon: we boiled / one boiled | |
| nous | avons bouilli | we boiled | |
| vous | avez bouilli | you boiled | |
| ils / elles | ont bouilli | they boiled |
IN A SENTENCEPassé composé example
Hier, le lait a bouilli dans la casserole.
Yesterday, the milk boiled in the saucepan.
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’ | bouillais | I used to boil | |
| tu | bouillais | you used to boil | |
| il / elle / on | bouillait | he / she / it used to boilon: we used to boil / one used to boil | |
| nous | bouillions | we used to boil | |
| vous | bouilliez | you used to boil | |
| ils / elles | bouillaient | they used to boil |
IN A SENTENCEImperfect example
Autrefois, le lait bouillait dans la casserole.
Back then, the milk used to boil in the saucepan.
Future Futur simple
Future events and predictions.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | bouillirai | I will boil | |
| tu | bouilliras | you will boil | |
| il / elle / on | bouillira | he / she / it will boilon: we will boil / one will boil | |
| nous | bouillirons | we will boil | |
| vous | bouillirez | you will boil | |
| ils / elles | bouilliront | they will boil |
IN A SENTENCEFuture example
Plus tard, le lait bouillira dans la casserole.
Later, the milk will boil in the saucepan.
Conditional Conditionnel présent
Hypothetical events and polite requests.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | bouillirais | I would boil | |
| tu | bouillirais | you would boil | |
| il / elle / on | bouillirait | he / she / it would boilon: we would boil / one would boil | |
| nous | bouillirions | we would boil | |
| vous | bouilliriez | you would boil | |
| ils / elles | bouilliraient | they would boil |
IN A SENTENCEConditional example
Le lait bouillirait dans la casserole.
The milk would boil in the saucepan.
Present subjunctive Subjonctif présent
Dependent clauses expressing wishes, necessity, doubt, and certain feelings.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | bouille | (that) I boil | |
| tu | bouilles | (that) you boil | |
| il / elle / on | bouille | (that) he / she / it boilson: (that) we boil / one boils | |
| nous | bouillions | (that) we boil | |
| vous | bouilliez | (that) you boil | |
| ils / elles | bouillent | (that) they boil |
IN A SENTENCEPresent subjunctive example
Il est possible que le lait bouille dans la casserole.
It is possible that the milk boils in the saucepan.
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 boil (becoming boiling; reach boiling point)
- to boil (cause to boil)
- to seethe
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