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 check.”
Present Présent
Habits, current states, and actions happening now.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | coche | I check | |
| tu | coches | you check | |
| il / elle / on | coche | he / she / it checkson: we check / one checks | |
| nous | cochons | we check | |
| vous | cochez | you check | |
| ils / elles | cochent | they check |
IN A SENTENCEPresent example
Paul coche la case correspondante sur le formulaire.
Paul checks the appropriate box on the form.
Passé composé
Completed past events, using avoir or être plus a past participle.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | ai coché | I checked | |
| tu | as coché | you checked | |
| il / elle / on | a coché | he / she / it checkedon: we checked / one checked | |
| nous | avons coché | we checked | |
| vous | avez coché | you checked | |
| ils / elles | ont coché | they checked |
IN A SENTENCEPassé composé example
Hier, Paul a coché la case correspondante sur le formulaire.
Yesterday, Paul checked the appropriate box on the form.
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’ | cochais | I used to check | |
| tu | cochais | you used to check | |
| il / elle / on | cochait | he / she / it used to checkon: we used to check / one used to check | |
| nous | cochions | we used to check | |
| vous | cochiez | you used to check | |
| ils / elles | cochaient | they used to check |
IN A SENTENCEImperfect example
Autrefois, Paul cochait la case correspondante sur le formulaire.
Back then, Paul used to check the appropriate box on the form.
Future Futur simple
Future events and predictions.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | cocherai | I will check | |
| tu | cocheras | you will check | |
| il / elle / on | cochera | he / she / it will checkon: we will check / one will check | |
| nous | cocherons | we will check | |
| vous | cocherez | you will check | |
| ils / elles | cocheront | they will check |
IN A SENTENCEFuture example
Plus tard, Paul cochera la case correspondante sur le formulaire.
Later, Paul will check the appropriate box on the form.
Conditional Conditionnel présent
Hypothetical events and polite requests.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | cocherais | I would check | |
| tu | cocherais | you would check | |
| il / elle / on | cocherait | he / she / it would checkon: we would check / one would check | |
| nous | cocherions | we would check | |
| vous | cocheriez | you would check | |
| ils / elles | cocheraient | they would check |
IN A SENTENCEConditional example
Paul cocherait la case correspondante sur le formulaire.
Paul would check the appropriate box on the form.
Present subjunctive Subjonctif présent
Dependent clauses expressing wishes, necessity, doubt, and certain feelings.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | coche | (that) I check | |
| tu | coches | (that) you check | |
| il / elle / on | coche | (that) he / she / it checkson: (that) we check / one checks | |
| nous | cochions | (that) we check | |
| vous | cochiez | (that) you check | |
| ils / elles | cochent | (that) they check |
IN A SENTENCEPresent subjunctive example
Il est possible que Paul coche la case correspondante sur le formulaire.
It is possible that Paul checks the appropriate box on the form.
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 tick; to tick off/check off (to place a tick symbol on, e.g. a form)
- to cross (to place a cross symbol on, e.g. a form)
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