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 cite.”
Present Présent
Habits, current states, and actions happening now.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | cite | I cite | |
| tu | cites | you cite | |
| il / elle / on | cite | he / she / it citeson: we cite / one cites | |
| nous | citons | we cite | |
| vous | citez | you cite | |
| ils / elles | citent | they cite |
IN A SENTENCEPresent example
Paul cite ses sources dans son article.
Paul cites his sources in his article.
Passé composé
Completed past events, using avoir or être plus a past participle.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | ai cité | I cited | |
| tu | as cité | you cited | |
| il / elle / on | a cité | he / she / it citedon: we cited / one cited | |
| nous | avons cité | we cited | |
| vous | avez cité | you cited | |
| ils / elles | ont cité | they cited |
IN A SENTENCEPassé composé example
Hier, Paul a cité ses sources dans son article.
Yesterday, Paul cited his sources in his article.
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’ | citais | I used to cite | |
| tu | citais | you used to cite | |
| il / elle / on | citait | he / she / it used to citeon: we used to cite / one used to cite | |
| nous | citions | we used to cite | |
| vous | citiez | you used to cite | |
| ils / elles | citaient | they used to cite |
IN A SENTENCEImperfect example
Autrefois, Paul citait ses sources dans son article.
Back then, Paul used to cite his sources in his article.
Future Futur simple
Future events and predictions.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | citerai | I will cite | |
| tu | citeras | you will cite | |
| il / elle / on | citera | he / she / it will citeon: we will cite / one will cite | |
| nous | citerons | we will cite | |
| vous | citerez | you will cite | |
| ils / elles | citeront | they will cite |
IN A SENTENCEFuture example
Plus tard, Paul citera ses sources dans son article.
Later, Paul will cite his sources in his article.
Conditional Conditionnel présent
Hypothetical events and polite requests.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | citerais | I would cite | |
| tu | citerais | you would cite | |
| il / elle / on | citerait | he / she / it would citeon: we would cite / one would cite | |
| nous | citerions | we would cite | |
| vous | citeriez | you would cite | |
| ils / elles | citeraient | they would cite |
IN A SENTENCEConditional example
Paul citerait ses sources dans son article.
Paul would cite his sources in his article.
Present subjunctive Subjonctif présent
Dependent clauses expressing wishes, necessity, doubt, and certain feelings.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | cite | (that) I cite | |
| tu | cites | (that) you cite | |
| il / elle / on | cite | (that) he / she / it citeson: (that) we cite / one cites | |
| nous | citions | (that) we cite | |
| vous | citiez | (that) you cite | |
| ils / elles | citent | (that) they cite |
IN A SENTENCEPresent subjunctive example
Il est possible que Paul cite ses sources dans son article.
It is possible that Paul cites his sources in his article.
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 cite, quote
- to summon
- to name
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