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 choose.”
Present Présent
Habits, current states, and actions happening now.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | choisis | I choose | |
| tu | choisis | you choose | |
| il / elle / on | choisit | he / she / it chooseson: we choose / one chooses | |
| nous | choisissons | we choose | |
| vous | choisissez | you choose | |
| ils / elles | choisissent | they choose |
IN A SENTENCEPresent example
Paul choisit une table près de la fenêtre.
Paul chooses a table near the window.
Passé composé
Completed past events, using avoir or être plus a past participle.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | ai choisi | I chose | |
| tu | as choisi | you chose | |
| il / elle / on | a choisi | he / she / it choseon: we chose / one chose | |
| nous | avons choisi | we chose | |
| vous | avez choisi | you chose | |
| ils / elles | ont choisi | they chose |
IN A SENTENCEPassé composé example
Hier, Paul a choisi une table près de la fenêtre.
Yesterday, Paul chose a table near the window.
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’ | choisissais | I used to choose | |
| tu | choisissais | you used to choose | |
| il / elle / on | choisissait | he / she / it used to chooseon: we used to choose / one used to choose | |
| nous | choisissions | we used to choose | |
| vous | choisissiez | you used to choose | |
| ils / elles | choisissaient | they used to choose |
IN A SENTENCEImperfect example
Autrefois, Paul choisissait une table près de la fenêtre.
Back then, Paul used to choose a table near the window.
Future Futur simple
Future events and predictions.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | choisirai | I will choose | |
| tu | choisiras | you will choose | |
| il / elle / on | choisira | he / she / it will chooseon: we will choose / one will choose | |
| nous | choisirons | we will choose | |
| vous | choisirez | you will choose | |
| ils / elles | choisiront | they will choose |
IN A SENTENCEFuture example
Plus tard, Paul choisira une table près de la fenêtre.
Later, Paul will choose a table near the window.
Conditional Conditionnel présent
Hypothetical events and polite requests.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | choisirais | I would choose | |
| tu | choisirais | you would choose | |
| il / elle / on | choisirait | he / she / it would chooseon: we would choose / one would choose | |
| nous | choisirions | we would choose | |
| vous | choisiriez | you would choose | |
| ils / elles | choisiraient | they would choose |
IN A SENTENCEConditional example
Paul choisirait une table près de la fenêtre.
Paul would choose a table near the window.
Present subjunctive Subjonctif présent
Dependent clauses expressing wishes, necessity, doubt, and certain feelings.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | choisisse | (that) I choose | |
| tu | choisisses | (that) you choose | |
| il / elle / on | choisisse | (that) he / she / it chooseson: (that) we choose / one chooses | |
| nous | choisissions | (that) we choose | |
| vous | choisissiez | (that) you choose | |
| ils / elles | choisissent | (that) they choose |
IN A SENTENCEPresent subjunctive example
Il est possible que Paul choisisse une table près de la fenêtre.
It is possible that Paul chooses a table near the window.
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 choose
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