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 fill.”
Present Présent
Habits, current states, and actions happening now.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | comble | I fill | |
| tu | combles | you fill | |
| il / elle / on | comble | he / she / it fillson: we fill / one fills | |
| nous | comblons | we fill | |
| vous | comblez | you fill | |
| ils / elles | comblent | they fill |
IN A SENTENCEPresent example
Paul comble le trou avec de la terre.
Paul fills the hole with soil.
Passé composé
Completed past events, using avoir or être plus a past participle.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | ai comblé | I filled | |
| tu | as comblé | you filled | |
| il / elle / on | a comblé | he / she / it filledon: we filled / one filled | |
| nous | avons comblé | we filled | |
| vous | avez comblé | you filled | |
| ils / elles | ont comblé | they filled |
IN A SENTENCEPassé composé example
Hier, Paul a comblé le trou avec de la terre.
Yesterday, Paul filled the hole with soil.
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’ | comblais | I used to fill | |
| tu | comblais | you used to fill | |
| il / elle / on | comblait | he / she / it used to fillon: we used to fill / one used to fill | |
| nous | comblions | we used to fill | |
| vous | combliez | you used to fill | |
| ils / elles | comblaient | they used to fill |
IN A SENTENCEImperfect example
Autrefois, Paul comblait le trou avec de la terre.
Back then, Paul used to fill the hole with soil.
Future Futur simple
Future events and predictions.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | comblerai | I will fill | |
| tu | combleras | you will fill | |
| il / elle / on | comblera | he / she / it will fillon: we will fill / one will fill | |
| nous | comblerons | we will fill | |
| vous | comblerez | you will fill | |
| ils / elles | combleront | they will fill |
IN A SENTENCEFuture example
Plus tard, Paul comblera le trou avec de la terre.
Later, Paul will fill the hole with soil.
Conditional Conditionnel présent
Hypothetical events and polite requests.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | comblerais | I would fill | |
| tu | comblerais | you would fill | |
| il / elle / on | comblerait | he / she / it would fillon: we would fill / one would fill | |
| nous | comblerions | we would fill | |
| vous | combleriez | you would fill | |
| ils / elles | combleraient | they would fill |
IN A SENTENCEConditional example
Paul comblerait le trou avec de la terre.
Paul would fill the hole with soil.
Present subjunctive Subjonctif présent
Dependent clauses expressing wishes, necessity, doubt, and certain feelings.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | comble | (that) I fill | |
| tu | combles | (that) you fill | |
| il / elle / on | comble | (that) he / she / it fillson: (that) we fill / one fills | |
| nous | comblions | (that) we fill | |
| vous | combliez | (that) you fill | |
| ils / elles | comblent | (that) they fill |
IN A SENTENCEPresent subjunctive example
Il est possible que Paul comble le trou avec de la terre.
It is possible that Paul fills the hole with soil.
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 fulfil, satisfy
- to fill (add contents to, so it is full)
- to fill (to install someone)
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