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 comment.”
Present Présent
Habits, current states, and actions happening now.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | commente | I comment | |
| tu | commentes | you comment | |
| il / elle / on | commente | he / she / it commentson: we comment / one comments | |
| nous | commentons | we comment | |
| vous | commentez | you comment | |
| ils / elles | commentent | they comment |
IN A SENTENCEPresent example
Le journaliste commente les résultats de l'élection.
The journalist comments on the election results.
Passé composé
Completed past events, using avoir or être plus a past participle.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | ai commenté | I commented | |
| tu | as commenté | you commented | |
| il / elle / on | a commenté | he / she / it commentedon: we commented / one commented | |
| nous | avons commenté | we commented | |
| vous | avez commenté | you commented | |
| ils / elles | ont commenté | they commented |
IN A SENTENCEPassé composé example
Hier, le journaliste a commenté les résultats de l'élection.
Yesterday, the journalist commented on the election results.
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’ | commentais | I used to comment | |
| tu | commentais | you used to comment | |
| il / elle / on | commentait | he / she / it used to commenton: we used to comment / one used to comment | |
| nous | commentions | we used to comment | |
| vous | commentiez | you used to comment | |
| ils / elles | commentaient | they used to comment |
IN A SENTENCEImperfect example
Autrefois, le journaliste commentait les résultats de l'élection.
Back then, the journalist used to comment on the election results.
Future Futur simple
Future events and predictions.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | commenterai | I will comment | |
| tu | commenteras | you will comment | |
| il / elle / on | commentera | he / she / it will commenton: we will comment / one will comment | |
| nous | commenterons | we will comment | |
| vous | commenterez | you will comment | |
| ils / elles | commenteront | they will comment |
IN A SENTENCEFuture example
Plus tard, le journaliste commentera les résultats de l'élection.
Later, the journalist will comment on the election results.
Conditional Conditionnel présent
Hypothetical events and polite requests.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | commenterais | I would comment | |
| tu | commenterais | you would comment | |
| il / elle / on | commenterait | he / she / it would commenton: we would comment / one would comment | |
| nous | commenterions | we would comment | |
| vous | commenteriez | you would comment | |
| ils / elles | commenteraient | they would comment |
IN A SENTENCEConditional example
Le journaliste commenterait les résultats de l'élection.
The journalist would comment on the election results.
Present subjunctive Subjonctif présent
Dependent clauses expressing wishes, necessity, doubt, and certain feelings.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | commente | (that) I comment | |
| tu | commentes | (that) you comment | |
| il / elle / on | commente | (that) he / she / it commentson: (that) we comment / one comments | |
| nous | commentions | (that) we comment | |
| vous | commentiez | (that) you comment | |
| ils / elles | commentent | (that) they comment |
IN A SENTENCEPresent subjunctive example
Il est possible que le journaliste commente les résultats de l'élection.
It is possible that the journalist comments on the election results.
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 comment
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