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 collect.”
Present Présent
Habits, current states, and actions happening now.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | collecte | I collect | |
| tu | collectes | you collect | |
| il / elle / on | collecte | he / she / it collectson: we collect / one collects | |
| nous | collectons | we collect | |
| vous | collectez | you collect | |
| ils / elles | collectent | they collect |
IN A SENTENCEPresent example
Paul collecte des vêtements pour l'association.
Paul collects clothes for the charity.
Passé composé
Completed past events, using avoir or être plus a past participle.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | ai collecté | I collected | |
| tu | as collecté | you collected | |
| il / elle / on | a collecté | he / she / it collectedon: we collected / one collected | |
| nous | avons collecté | we collected | |
| vous | avez collecté | you collected | |
| ils / elles | ont collecté | they collected |
IN A SENTENCEPassé composé example
Hier, Paul a collecté des vêtements pour l'association.
Yesterday, Paul collected clothes for the charity.
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’ | collectais | I used to collect | |
| tu | collectais | you used to collect | |
| il / elle / on | collectait | he / she / it used to collecton: we used to collect / one used to collect | |
| nous | collections | we used to collect | |
| vous | collectiez | you used to collect | |
| ils / elles | collectaient | they used to collect |
IN A SENTENCEImperfect example
Autrefois, Paul collectait des vêtements pour l'association.
Back then, Paul used to collect clothes for the charity.
Future Futur simple
Future events and predictions.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | collecterai | I will collect | |
| tu | collecteras | you will collect | |
| il / elle / on | collectera | he / she / it will collecton: we will collect / one will collect | |
| nous | collecterons | we will collect | |
| vous | collecterez | you will collect | |
| ils / elles | collecteront | they will collect |
IN A SENTENCEFuture example
Plus tard, Paul collectera des vêtements pour l'association.
Later, Paul will collect clothes for the charity.
Conditional Conditionnel présent
Hypothetical events and polite requests.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | collecterais | I would collect | |
| tu | collecterais | you would collect | |
| il / elle / on | collecterait | he / she / it would collecton: we would collect / one would collect | |
| nous | collecterions | we would collect | |
| vous | collecteriez | you would collect | |
| ils / elles | collecteraient | they would collect |
IN A SENTENCEConditional example
Paul collecterait des vêtements pour l'association.
Paul would collect clothes for the charity.
Present subjunctive Subjonctif présent
Dependent clauses expressing wishes, necessity, doubt, and certain feelings.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | collecte | (that) I collect | |
| tu | collectes | (that) you collect | |
| il / elle / on | collecte | (that) he / she / it collectson: (that) we collect / one collects | |
| nous | collections | (that) we collect | |
| vous | collectiez | (that) you collect | |
| ils / elles | collectent | (that) they collect |
IN A SENTENCEPresent subjunctive example
Il est possible que Paul collecte des vêtements pour l'association.
It is possible that Paul collects clothes for the charity.
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 collect, to gather
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