brancher: conjugation and meaning · How to Learn French

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 plug in.”

Present Présent

Habits, current states, and actions happening now.

brancher: Present, with English translations
Subject	French	English
je / j’	branche	I plug in
tu	branches	you plug in
il / elle / on	branche	he / she / it plugs inon: we plug in / one plugs in
nous	branchons	we plug in
vous	branchez	you plug in
ils / elles	branchent	they plug in

IN A SENTENCEPresent example

Paul branche la lampe près du lit.

Paul plugs in the lamp beside the bed.

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Passé composé

Completed past events, using avoir or être plus a past participle.

brancher: Passé composé, with English translations
Subject	French	English
je / j’	ai branché	I plugged in
tu	as branché	you plugged in
il / elle / on	a branché	he / she / it plugged inon: we plugged in / one plugged in
nous	avons branché	we plugged in
vous	avez branché	you plugged in
ils / elles	ont branché	they plugged in

IN A SENTENCEPassé composé example

Hier, Paul a branché la lampe près du lit.

Yesterday, Paul plugged in the lamp beside the bed.

The passé composé uses avoir. The table shows the unmarked participle; agreement with a preceding direct object is outside this reference.

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Imperfect Imparfait

Past habits, descriptions, and actions in progress.

brancher: Imperfect, with English translations
Subject	French	English
je / j’	branchais	I used to plug in
tu	branchais	you used to plug in
il / elle / on	branchait	he / she / it used to plug inon: we used to plug in / one used to plug in
nous	branchions	we used to plug in
vous	branchiez	you used to plug in
ils / elles	branchaient	they used to plug in

IN A SENTENCEImperfect example

Autrefois, Paul branchait la lampe près du lit.

Back then, Paul used to plug in the lamp beside the bed.

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Future Futur simple

Future events and predictions.

brancher: Future, with English translations
Subject	French	English
je / j’	brancherai	I will plug in
tu	brancheras	you will plug in
il / elle / on	branchera	he / she / it will plug inon: we will plug in / one will plug in
nous	brancherons	we will plug in
vous	brancherez	you will plug in
ils / elles	brancheront	they will plug in

IN A SENTENCEFuture example

Plus tard, Paul branchera la lampe près du lit.

Later, Paul will plug in the lamp beside the bed.

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Conditional Conditionnel présent

Hypothetical events and polite requests.

brancher: Conditional, with English translations
Subject	French	English
je / j’	brancherais	I would plug in
tu	brancherais	you would plug in
il / elle / on	brancherait	he / she / it would plug inon: we would plug in / one would plug in
nous	brancherions	we would plug in
vous	brancheriez	you would plug in
ils / elles	brancheraient	they would plug in

IN A SENTENCEConditional example

Paul brancherait la lampe près du lit.

Paul would plug in the lamp beside the bed.

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Present subjunctive Subjonctif présent

Dependent clauses expressing wishes, necessity, doubt, and certain feelings.

brancher: Present subjunctive, with English translations
Subject	French	English
je / j’	branche	(that) I plug in
tu	branches	(that) you plug in
il / elle / on	branche	(that) he / she / it plugs inon: (that) we plug in / one plugs in
nous	branchions	(that) we plug in
vous	branchiez	(that) you plug in
ils / elles	branchent	(that) they plug in

IN A SENTENCEPresent subjunctive example

Il est possible que Paul branche la lampe près du lit.

It is possible that Paul plugs in the lamp beside the bed.

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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 connect, plug in (appliance)
to branch
to branch off, to turn (of a road)

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