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 seem wrong.”
Present Présent
Habits, current states, and actions happening now.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | cloche | I seem wrong | |
| tu | cloches | you seem wrong | |
| il / elle / on | cloche | he / she / it seems wrongon: we seem wrong / one seems wrong | |
| nous | clochons | we seem wrong | |
| vous | clochez | you seem wrong | |
| ils / elles | clochent | they seem wrong |
IN A SENTENCEPresent example
Quelque chose cloche dans cette histoire.
Something seems wrong in this story.
Passé composé
Completed past events, using avoir or être plus a past participle.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | ai cloché | I seemed wrong | |
| tu | as cloché | you seemed wrong | |
| il / elle / on | a cloché | he / she / it seemed wrongon: we seemed wrong / one seemed wrong | |
| nous | avons cloché | we seemed wrong | |
| vous | avez cloché | you seemed wrong | |
| ils / elles | ont cloché | they seemed wrong |
IN A SENTENCEPassé composé example
Hier, quelque chose a cloché dans cette histoire.
Yesterday, something seemed wrong in this story.
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’ | clochais | I used to seem wrong | |
| tu | clochais | you used to seem wrong | |
| il / elle / on | clochait | he / she / it used to seem wrongon: we used to seem wrong / one used to seem wrong | |
| nous | clochions | we used to seem wrong | |
| vous | clochiez | you used to seem wrong | |
| ils / elles | clochaient | they used to seem wrong |
IN A SENTENCEImperfect example
Autrefois, quelque chose clochait dans cette histoire.
Back then, something used to seem wrong in this story.
Future Futur simple
Future events and predictions.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | clocherai | I will seem wrong | |
| tu | clocheras | you will seem wrong | |
| il / elle / on | clochera | he / she / it will seem wrongon: we will seem wrong / one will seem wrong | |
| nous | clocherons | we will seem wrong | |
| vous | clocherez | you will seem wrong | |
| ils / elles | clocheront | they will seem wrong |
IN A SENTENCEFuture example
Plus tard, quelque chose clochera dans cette histoire.
Later, something will seem wrong in this story.
Conditional Conditionnel présent
Hypothetical events and polite requests.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | clocherais | I would seem wrong | |
| tu | clocherais | you would seem wrong | |
| il / elle / on | clocherait | he / she / it would seem wrongon: we would seem wrong / one would seem wrong | |
| nous | clocherions | we would seem wrong | |
| vous | clocheriez | you would seem wrong | |
| ils / elles | clocheraient | they would seem wrong |
IN A SENTENCEConditional example
Quelque chose clocherait dans cette histoire.
Something would seem wrong in this story.
Present subjunctive Subjonctif présent
Dependent clauses expressing wishes, necessity, doubt, and certain feelings.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | cloche | (that) I seem wrong | |
| tu | cloches | (that) you seem wrong | |
| il / elle / on | cloche | (that) he / she / it seems wrongon: (that) we seem wrong / one seems wrong | |
| nous | clochions | (that) we seem wrong | |
| vous | clochiez | (that) you seem wrong | |
| ils / elles | clochent | (that) they seem wrong |
IN A SENTENCEPresent subjunctive example
Il est possible que quelque chose cloche dans cette histoire.
It is possible that something seems wrong in this story.
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 be wrong; to be amiss
- to ring a bell
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