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 target.”
Present Présent
Habits, current states, and actions happening now.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | cible | I target | |
| tu | cibles | you target | |
| il / elle / on | cible | he / she / it targetson: we target / one targets | |
| nous | ciblons | we target | |
| vous | ciblez | you target | |
| ils / elles | ciblent | they target |
IN A SENTENCEPresent example
Paul cible les besoins des nouveaux clients.
Paul targets the new customers' needs.
Passé composé
Completed past events, using avoir or être plus a past participle.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | ai ciblé | I targeted | |
| tu | as ciblé | you targeted | |
| il / elle / on | a ciblé | he / she / it targetedon: we targeted / one targeted | |
| nous | avons ciblé | we targeted | |
| vous | avez ciblé | you targeted | |
| ils / elles | ont ciblé | they targeted |
IN A SENTENCEPassé composé example
Hier, Paul a ciblé les besoins des nouveaux clients.
Yesterday, Paul targeted the new customers' needs.
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’ | ciblais | I used to target | |
| tu | ciblais | you used to target | |
| il / elle / on | ciblait | he / she / it used to targeton: we used to target / one used to target | |
| nous | ciblions | we used to target | |
| vous | cibliez | you used to target | |
| ils / elles | ciblaient | they used to target |
IN A SENTENCEImperfect example
Autrefois, Paul ciblait les besoins des nouveaux clients.
Back then, Paul used to target the new customers' needs.
Future Futur simple
Future events and predictions.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | ciblerai | I will target | |
| tu | cibleras | you will target | |
| il / elle / on | ciblera | he / she / it will targeton: we will target / one will target | |
| nous | ciblerons | we will target | |
| vous | ciblerez | you will target | |
| ils / elles | cibleront | they will target |
IN A SENTENCEFuture example
Plus tard, Paul ciblera les besoins des nouveaux clients.
Later, Paul will target the new customers' needs.
Conditional Conditionnel présent
Hypothetical events and polite requests.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | ciblerais | I would target | |
| tu | ciblerais | you would target | |
| il / elle / on | ciblerait | he / she / it would targeton: we would target / one would target | |
| nous | ciblerions | we would target | |
| vous | cibleriez | you would target | |
| ils / elles | cibleraient | they would target |
IN A SENTENCEConditional example
Paul ciblerait les besoins des nouveaux clients.
Paul would target the new customers' needs.
Present subjunctive Subjonctif présent
Dependent clauses expressing wishes, necessity, doubt, and certain feelings.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | cible | (that) I target | |
| tu | cibles | (that) you target | |
| il / elle / on | cible | (that) he / she / it targetson: (that) we target / one targets | |
| nous | ciblions | (that) we target | |
| vous | cibliez | (that) you target | |
| ils / elles | ciblent | (that) they target |
IN A SENTENCEPresent subjunctive example
Il est possible que Paul cible les besoins des nouveaux clients.
It is possible that Paul targets the new customers' needs.
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 target
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