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 calm.”
Present Présent
Habits, current states, and actions happening now.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | calme | I calm | |
| tu | calmes | you calm | |
| il / elle / on | calme | he / she / it calmson: we calm / one calms | |
| nous | calmons | we calm | |
| vous | calmez | you calm | |
| ils / elles | calment | they calm |
IN A SENTENCEPresent example
Paul calme le chien avec sa voix.
Paul calms the dog with his voice.
Passé composé
Completed past events, using avoir or être plus a past participle.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | ai calmé | I calmed | |
| tu | as calmé | you calmed | |
| il / elle / on | a calmé | he / she / it calmedon: we calmed / one calmed | |
| nous | avons calmé | we calmed | |
| vous | avez calmé | you calmed | |
| ils / elles | ont calmé | they calmed |
IN A SENTENCEPassé composé example
Hier, Paul a calmé le chien avec sa voix.
Yesterday, Paul calmed the dog with his voice.
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’ | calmais | I used to calm | |
| tu | calmais | you used to calm | |
| il / elle / on | calmait | he / she / it used to calmon: we used to calm / one used to calm | |
| nous | calmions | we used to calm | |
| vous | calmiez | you used to calm | |
| ils / elles | calmaient | they used to calm |
IN A SENTENCEImperfect example
Autrefois, Paul calmait le chien avec sa voix.
Back then, Paul used to calm the dog with his voice.
Future Futur simple
Future events and predictions.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | calmerai | I will calm | |
| tu | calmeras | you will calm | |
| il / elle / on | calmera | he / she / it will calmon: we will calm / one will calm | |
| nous | calmerons | we will calm | |
| vous | calmerez | you will calm | |
| ils / elles | calmeront | they will calm |
IN A SENTENCEFuture example
Plus tard, Paul calmera le chien avec sa voix.
Later, Paul will calm the dog with his voice.
Conditional Conditionnel présent
Hypothetical events and polite requests.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | calmerais | I would calm | |
| tu | calmerais | you would calm | |
| il / elle / on | calmerait | he / she / it would calmon: we would calm / one would calm | |
| nous | calmerions | we would calm | |
| vous | calmeriez | you would calm | |
| ils / elles | calmeraient | they would calm |
IN A SENTENCEConditional example
Paul calmerait le chien avec sa voix.
Paul would calm the dog with his voice.
Present subjunctive Subjonctif présent
Dependent clauses expressing wishes, necessity, doubt, and certain feelings.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | calme | (that) I calm | |
| tu | calmes | (that) you calm | |
| il / elle / on | calme | (that) he / she / it calmson: (that) we calm / one calms | |
| nous | calmions | (that) we calm | |
| vous | calmiez | (that) you calm | |
| ils / elles | calment | (that) they calm |
IN A SENTENCEPresent subjunctive example
Il est possible que Paul calme le chien avec sa voix.
It is possible that Paul calms the dog with his voice.
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 calm, pacify, soothe
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