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 burn.”
Present Présent
Habits, current states, and actions happening now.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | brûle | I burn | |
| tu | brûles | you burn | |
| il / elle / on | brûle | he / she / it burnson: we burn / one burns | |
| nous | brûlons | we burn | |
| vous | brûlez | you burn | |
| ils / elles | brûlent | they burn |
IN A SENTENCEPresent example
Le soleil brûle la peau sans protection.
The sun burns unprotected skin.
Passé composé
Completed past events, using avoir or être plus a past participle.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | ai brûlé | I burned | |
| tu | as brûlé | you burned | |
| il / elle / on | a brûlé | he / she / it burnedon: we burned / one burned | |
| nous | avons brûlé | we burned | |
| vous | avez brûlé | you burned | |
| ils / elles | ont brûlé | they burned |
IN A SENTENCEPassé composé example
Hier, le soleil a brûlé la peau sans protection.
Yesterday, the sun burned unprotected skin.
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’ | brûlais | I used to burn | |
| tu | brûlais | you used to burn | |
| il / elle / on | brûlait | he / she / it used to burnon: we used to burn / one used to burn | |
| nous | brûlions | we used to burn | |
| vous | brûliez | you used to burn | |
| ils / elles | brûlaient | they used to burn |
IN A SENTENCEImperfect example
Autrefois, le soleil brûlait la peau sans protection.
Back then, the sun used to burn unprotected skin.
Future Futur simple
Future events and predictions.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | brûlerai | I will burn | |
| tu | brûleras | you will burn | |
| il / elle / on | brûlera | he / she / it will burnon: we will burn / one will burn | |
| nous | brûlerons | we will burn | |
| vous | brûlerez | you will burn | |
| ils / elles | brûleront | they will burn |
IN A SENTENCEFuture example
Plus tard, le soleil brûlera la peau sans protection.
Later, the sun will burn unprotected skin.
Conditional Conditionnel présent
Hypothetical events and polite requests.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | brûlerais | I would burn | |
| tu | brûlerais | you would burn | |
| il / elle / on | brûlerait | he / she / it would burnon: we would burn / one would burn | |
| nous | brûlerions | we would burn | |
| vous | brûleriez | you would burn | |
| ils / elles | brûleraient | they would burn |
IN A SENTENCEConditional example
Le soleil brûlerait la peau sans protection.
The sun would burn unprotected skin.
Present subjunctive Subjonctif présent
Dependent clauses expressing wishes, necessity, doubt, and certain feelings.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | brûle | (that) I burn | |
| tu | brûles | (that) you burn | |
| il / elle / on | brûle | (that) he / she / it burnson: (that) we burn / one burns | |
| nous | brûlions | (that) we burn | |
| vous | brûliez | (that) you burn | |
| ils / elles | brûlent | (that) they burn |
IN A SENTENCEPresent subjunctive example
Il est possible que le soleil brûle la peau sans protection.
It is possible that the sun burns unprotected skin.
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 burn
- to pass an obstacle, to blow (through or past), to run
- to be boiling, to be very close to the answer
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