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 shock.”
Present Présent
Habits, current states, and actions happening now.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | choque | I shock | |
| tu | choques | you shock | |
| il / elle / on | choque | he / she / it shockson: we shock / one shocks | |
| nous | choquons | we shock | |
| vous | choquez | you shock | |
| ils / elles | choquent | they shock |
IN A SENTENCEPresent example
Le récit choque Paul.
The story shocks Paul.
Passé composé
Completed past events, using avoir or être plus a past participle.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | ai choqué | I shocked | |
| tu | as choqué | you shocked | |
| il / elle / on | a choqué | he / she / it shockedon: we shocked / one shocked | |
| nous | avons choqué | we shocked | |
| vous | avez choqué | you shocked | |
| ils / elles | ont choqué | they shocked |
IN A SENTENCEPassé composé example
Hier, le récit a choqué Paul.
Yesterday, the story shocked Paul.
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’ | choquais | I used to shock | |
| tu | choquais | you used to shock | |
| il / elle / on | choquait | he / she / it used to shockon: we used to shock / one used to shock | |
| nous | choquions | we used to shock | |
| vous | choquiez | you used to shock | |
| ils / elles | choquaient | they used to shock |
IN A SENTENCEImperfect example
Autrefois, le récit choquait Paul.
Back then, the story used to shock Paul.
Future Futur simple
Future events and predictions.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | choquerai | I will shock | |
| tu | choqueras | you will shock | |
| il / elle / on | choquera | he / she / it will shockon: we will shock / one will shock | |
| nous | choquerons | we will shock | |
| vous | choquerez | you will shock | |
| ils / elles | choqueront | they will shock |
IN A SENTENCEFuture example
Plus tard, le récit choquera Paul.
Later, the story will shock Paul.
Conditional Conditionnel présent
Hypothetical events and polite requests.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | choquerais | I would shock | |
| tu | choquerais | you would shock | |
| il / elle / on | choquerait | he / she / it would shockon: we would shock / one would shock | |
| nous | choquerions | we would shock | |
| vous | choqueriez | you would shock | |
| ils / elles | choqueraient | they would shock |
IN A SENTENCEConditional example
Le récit choquerait Paul.
The story would shock Paul.
Present subjunctive Subjonctif présent
Dependent clauses expressing wishes, necessity, doubt, and certain feelings.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | choque | (that) I shock | |
| tu | choques | (that) you shock | |
| il / elle / on | choque | (that) he / she / it shockson: (that) we shock / one shocks | |
| nous | choquions | (that) we shock | |
| vous | choquiez | (that) you shock | |
| ils / elles | choquent | (that) they shock |
IN A SENTENCEPresent subjunctive example
Il est possible que le récit choque Paul.
It is possible that the story shocks Paul.
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.”
The example uses the sense shock or startle.
Meaning & usage
- to hit, to collide
- to shock (surprise, startle)
- to offend, to anger (especially in reflexive)
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