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 compose.”
Present Présent
Habits, current states, and actions happening now.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | compose | I compose | |
| tu | composes | you compose | |
| il / elle / on | compose | he / she / it composeson: we compose / one composes | |
| nous | composons | we compose | |
| vous | composez | you compose | |
| ils / elles | composent | they compose |
IN A SENTENCEPresent example
Le musicien compose une mélodie pour le film.
The musician composes a melody for the film.
Passé composé
Completed past events, using avoir or être plus a past participle.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | ai composé | I composed | |
| tu | as composé | you composed | |
| il / elle / on | a composé | he / she / it composedon: we composed / one composed | |
| nous | avons composé | we composed | |
| vous | avez composé | you composed | |
| ils / elles | ont composé | they composed |
IN A SENTENCEPassé composé example
Hier, le musicien a composé une mélodie pour le film.
Yesterday, the musician composed a melody for the film.
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’ | composais | I used to compose | |
| tu | composais | you used to compose | |
| il / elle / on | composait | he / she / it used to composeon: we used to compose / one used to compose | |
| nous | composions | we used to compose | |
| vous | composiez | you used to compose | |
| ils / elles | composaient | they used to compose |
IN A SENTENCEImperfect example
Autrefois, le musicien composait une mélodie pour le film.
Back then, the musician used to compose a melody for the film.
Future Futur simple
Future events and predictions.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | composerai | I will compose | |
| tu | composeras | you will compose | |
| il / elle / on | composera | he / she / it will composeon: we will compose / one will compose | |
| nous | composerons | we will compose | |
| vous | composerez | you will compose | |
| ils / elles | composeront | they will compose |
IN A SENTENCEFuture example
Plus tard, le musicien composera une mélodie pour le film.
Later, the musician will compose a melody for the film.
Conditional Conditionnel présent
Hypothetical events and polite requests.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | composerais | I would compose | |
| tu | composerais | you would compose | |
| il / elle / on | composerait | he / she / it would composeon: we would compose / one would compose | |
| nous | composerions | we would compose | |
| vous | composeriez | you would compose | |
| ils / elles | composeraient | they would compose |
IN A SENTENCEConditional example
Le musicien composerait une mélodie pour le film.
The musician would compose a melody for the film.
Present subjunctive Subjonctif présent
Dependent clauses expressing wishes, necessity, doubt, and certain feelings.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | compose | (that) I compose | |
| tu | composes | (that) you compose | |
| il / elle / on | compose | (that) he / she / it composeson: (that) we compose / one composes | |
| nous | composions | (that) we compose | |
| vous | composiez | (that) you compose | |
| ils / elles | composent | (that) they compose |
IN A SENTENCEPresent subjunctive example
Il est possible que le musicien compose une mélodie pour le film.
It is possible that the musician composes a melody for the film.
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 compose
- to compose (to produce or create a musical work)
- to constitute, to make up
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