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 snap.”
Present Présent
Habits, current states, and actions happening now.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | claque | I snap | |
| tu | claques | you snap | |
| il / elle / on | claque | he / she / it snapson: we snap / one snaps | |
| nous | claquons | we snap | |
| vous | claquez | you snap | |
| ils / elles | claquent | they snap |
IN A SENTENCEPresent example
Paul claque des doigts pour marquer le rythme.
Paul snaps his fingers to mark the rhythm.
Passé composé
Completed past events, using avoir or être plus a past participle.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | ai claqué | I snapped | |
| tu | as claqué | you snapped | |
| il / elle / on | a claqué | he / she / it snappedon: we snapped / one snapped | |
| nous | avons claqué | we snapped | |
| vous | avez claqué | you snapped | |
| ils / elles | ont claqué | they snapped |
IN A SENTENCEPassé composé example
Hier, Paul a claqué des doigts pour marquer le rythme.
Yesterday, Paul snapped his fingers to mark the rhythm.
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’ | claquais | I used to snap | |
| tu | claquais | you used to snap | |
| il / elle / on | claquait | he / she / it used to snapon: we used to snap / one used to snap | |
| nous | claquions | we used to snap | |
| vous | claquiez | you used to snap | |
| ils / elles | claquaient | they used to snap |
IN A SENTENCEImperfect example
Autrefois, Paul claquait des doigts pour marquer le rythme.
Back then, Paul used to snap his fingers to mark the rhythm.
Future Futur simple
Future events and predictions.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | claquerai | I will snap | |
| tu | claqueras | you will snap | |
| il / elle / on | claquera | he / she / it will snapon: we will snap / one will snap | |
| nous | claquerons | we will snap | |
| vous | claquerez | you will snap | |
| ils / elles | claqueront | they will snap |
IN A SENTENCEFuture example
Plus tard, Paul claquera des doigts pour marquer le rythme.
Later, Paul will snap his fingers to mark the rhythm.
Conditional Conditionnel présent
Hypothetical events and polite requests.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | claquerais | I would snap | |
| tu | claquerais | you would snap | |
| il / elle / on | claquerait | he / she / it would snapon: we would snap / one would snap | |
| nous | claquerions | we would snap | |
| vous | claqueriez | you would snap | |
| ils / elles | claqueraient | they would snap |
IN A SENTENCEConditional example
Paul claquerait des doigts pour marquer le rythme.
Paul would snap his fingers to mark the rhythm.
Present subjunctive Subjonctif présent
Dependent clauses expressing wishes, necessity, doubt, and certain feelings.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | claque | (that) I snap | |
| tu | claques | (that) you snap | |
| il / elle / on | claque | (that) he / she / it snapson: (that) we snap / one snaps | |
| nous | claquions | (that) we snap | |
| vous | claquiez | (that) you snap | |
| ils / elles | claquent | (that) they snap |
IN A SENTENCEPresent subjunctive example
Il est possible que Paul claque des doigts pour marquer le rythme.
It is possible that Paul snaps his fingers to mark the rhythm.
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 clack (make a sharp sound)
- to clap
- to click, to snap
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