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 complicate.”
Present Présent
Habits, current states, and actions happening now.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | complique | I complicate | |
| tu | compliques | you complicate | |
| il / elle / on | complique | he / she / it complicateson: we complicate / one complicates | |
| nous | compliquons | we complicate | |
| vous | compliquez | you complicate | |
| ils / elles | compliquent | they complicate |
IN A SENTENCEPresent example
Le retard complique notre voyage.
The delay complicates our journey.
Passé composé
Completed past events, using avoir or être plus a past participle.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | ai compliqué | I complicated | |
| tu | as compliqué | you complicated | |
| il / elle / on | a compliqué | he / she / it complicatedon: we complicated / one complicated | |
| nous | avons compliqué | we complicated | |
| vous | avez compliqué | you complicated | |
| ils / elles | ont compliqué | they complicated |
IN A SENTENCEPassé composé example
Hier, le retard a compliqué notre voyage.
Yesterday, the delay complicated our journey.
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’ | compliquais | I used to complicate | |
| tu | compliquais | you used to complicate | |
| il / elle / on | compliquait | he / she / it used to complicateon: we used to complicate / one used to complicate | |
| nous | compliquions | we used to complicate | |
| vous | compliquiez | you used to complicate | |
| ils / elles | compliquaient | they used to complicate |
IN A SENTENCEImperfect example
Autrefois, le retard compliquait notre voyage.
Back then, the delay used to complicate our journey.
Future Futur simple
Future events and predictions.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | compliquerai | I will complicate | |
| tu | compliqueras | you will complicate | |
| il / elle / on | compliquera | he / she / it will complicateon: we will complicate / one will complicate | |
| nous | compliquerons | we will complicate | |
| vous | compliquerez | you will complicate | |
| ils / elles | compliqueront | they will complicate |
IN A SENTENCEFuture example
Plus tard, le retard compliquera notre voyage.
Later, the delay will complicate our journey.
Conditional Conditionnel présent
Hypothetical events and polite requests.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | compliquerais | I would complicate | |
| tu | compliquerais | you would complicate | |
| il / elle / on | compliquerait | he / she / it would complicateon: we would complicate / one would complicate | |
| nous | compliquerions | we would complicate | |
| vous | compliqueriez | you would complicate | |
| ils / elles | compliqueraient | they would complicate |
IN A SENTENCEConditional example
Le retard compliquerait notre voyage.
The delay would complicate our journey.
Present subjunctive Subjonctif présent
Dependent clauses expressing wishes, necessity, doubt, and certain feelings.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | complique | (that) I complicate | |
| tu | compliques | (that) you complicate | |
| il / elle / on | complique | (that) he / she / it complicateson: (that) we complicate / one complicates | |
| nous | compliquions | (that) we complicate | |
| vous | compliquiez | (that) you complicate | |
| ils / elles | compliquent | (that) they complicate |
IN A SENTENCEPresent subjunctive example
Il est possible que le retard complique notre voyage.
It is possible that the delay complicates our journey.
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 complicate
- to elaborate
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