changer: 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 change.”

Present Présent

Habits, current states, and actions happening now.

changer: Present, with English translations
Subject	French	English
je / j’	change	I change
tu	changes	you change
il / elle / on	change	he / she / it changeson: we change / one changes
nous	changeons	we change
vous	changez	you change
ils / elles	changent	they change

IN A SENTENCEPresent example

Paul change la couleur de sa chambre.

Paul changes the color of his room.

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Passé composé

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

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

IN A SENTENCEPassé composé example

Hier, Paul a changé la couleur de sa chambre.

Yesterday, Paul changed the color of his room.

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.

changer: Imperfect, with English translations
Subject	French	English
je / j’	changeais	I used to change
tu	changeais	you used to change
il / elle / on	changeait	he / she / it used to changeon: we used to change / one used to change
nous	changions	we used to change
vous	changiez	you used to change
ils / elles	changeaient	they used to change

IN A SENTENCEImperfect example

Autrefois, Paul changeait la couleur de sa chambre.

Back then, Paul used to change the color of his room.

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Future Futur simple

Future events and predictions.

changer: Future, with English translations
Subject	French	English
je / j’	changerai	I will change
tu	changeras	you will change
il / elle / on	changera	he / she / it will changeon: we will change / one will change
nous	changerons	we will change
vous	changerez	you will change
ils / elles	changeront	they will change

IN A SENTENCEFuture example

Plus tard, Paul changera la couleur de sa chambre.

Later, Paul will change the color of his room.

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Conditional Conditionnel présent

Hypothetical events and polite requests.

changer: Conditional, with English translations
Subject	French	English
je / j’	changerais	I would change
tu	changerais	you would change
il / elle / on	changerait	he / she / it would changeon: we would change / one would change
nous	changerions	we would change
vous	changeriez	you would change
ils / elles	changeraient	they would change

IN A SENTENCEConditional example

Paul changerait la couleur de sa chambre.

Paul would change the color of his room.

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Present subjunctive Subjonctif présent

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

changer: Present subjunctive, with English translations
Subject	French	English
je / j’	change	(that) I change
tu	changes	(that) you change
il / elle / on	change	(that) he / she / it changeson: (that) we change / one changes
nous	changions	(that) we change
vous	changiez	(that) you change
ils / elles	changent	(that) they change

IN A SENTENCEPresent subjunctive example

Il est possible que Paul change la couleur de sa chambre.

It is possible that Paul changes the color of his room.

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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 change; to exchange
to exchange (something)
to change (money, a job, one's circumstances etc.)

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