casser: 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 break.”

Present Présent

Habits, current states, and actions happening now.

casser: Present, with English translations
Subject	French	English
je / j’	casse	I break
tu	casses	you break
il / elle / on	casse	he / she / it breakson: we break / one breaks
nous	cassons	we break
vous	cassez	you break
ils / elles	cassent	they break

IN A SENTENCEPresent example

Paul casse une branche sèche.

Paul breaks a dry branch.

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Passé composé

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

casser: Passé composé, with English translations
Subject	French	English
je / j’	ai cassé	I broke
tu	as cassé	you broke
il / elle / on	a cassé	he / she / it brokeon: we broke / one broke
nous	avons cassé	we broke
vous	avez cassé	you broke
ils / elles	ont cassé	they broke

IN A SENTENCEPassé composé example

Hier, Paul a cassé une branche sèche.

Yesterday, Paul broke a dry branch.

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.

casser: Imperfect, with English translations
Subject	French	English
je / j’	cassais	I used to break
tu	cassais	you used to break
il / elle / on	cassait	he / she / it used to breakon: we used to break / one used to break
nous	cassions	we used to break
vous	cassiez	you used to break
ils / elles	cassaient	they used to break

IN A SENTENCEImperfect example

Autrefois, Paul cassait une branche sèche.

Back then, Paul used to break a dry branch.

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Future Futur simple

Future events and predictions.

casser: Future, with English translations
Subject	French	English
je / j’	casserai	I will break
tu	casseras	you will break
il / elle / on	cassera	he / she / it will breakon: we will break / one will break
nous	casserons	we will break
vous	casserez	you will break
ils / elles	casseront	they will break

IN A SENTENCEFuture example

Plus tard, Paul cassera une branche sèche.

Later, Paul will break a dry branch.

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Conditional Conditionnel présent

Hypothetical events and polite requests.

casser: Conditional, with English translations
Subject	French	English
je / j’	casserais	I would break
tu	casserais	you would break
il / elle / on	casserait	he / she / it would breakon: we would break / one would break
nous	casserions	we would break
vous	casseriez	you would break
ils / elles	casseraient	they would break

IN A SENTENCEConditional example

Paul casserait une branche sèche.

Paul would break a dry branch.

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Present subjunctive Subjonctif présent

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

casser: Present subjunctive, with English translations
Subject	French	English
je / j’	casse	(that) I break
tu	casses	(that) you break
il / elle / on	casse	(that) he / she / it breakson: (that) we break / one breaks
nous	cassions	(that) we break
vous	cassiez	(that) you break
ils / elles	cassent	(that) they break

IN A SENTENCEPresent subjunctive example

Il est possible que Paul casse une branche sèche.

It is possible that Paul breaks a dry branch.

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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 break
to break up (with somebody)

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