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 understand.”
Present Présent
Habits, current states, and actions happening now.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | comprends | I understand | |
| tu | comprends | you understand | |
| il / elle / on | comprend | he / she / it understandson: we understand / one understands | |
| nous | comprenons | we understand | |
| vous | comprenez | you understand | |
| ils / elles | comprennent | they understand |
IN A SENTENCEPresent example
Paul comprend cette explication.
Paul understands this explanation.
Passé composé
Completed past events, using avoir or être plus a past participle.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | ai compris | I understood | |
| tu | as compris | you understood | |
| il / elle / on | a compris | he / she / it understoodon: we understood / one understood | |
| nous | avons compris | we understood | |
| vous | avez compris | you understood | |
| ils / elles | ont compris | they understood |
IN A SENTENCEPassé composé example
Hier, Paul a compris cette explication.
Yesterday, Paul understood this explanation.
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’ | comprenais | I understood | |
| tu | comprenais | you understood | |
| il / elle / on | comprenait | he / she / it understoodon: we understood / one understood | |
| nous | comprenions | we understood | |
| vous | compreniez | you understood | |
| ils / elles | comprenaient | they understood |
IN A SENTENCEImperfect example
Autrefois, Paul comprenait cette explication.
Back then, Paul understood this explanation.
Future Futur simple
Future events and predictions.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | comprendrai | I will understand | |
| tu | comprendras | you will understand | |
| il / elle / on | comprendra | he / she / it will understandon: we will understand / one will understand | |
| nous | comprendrons | we will understand | |
| vous | comprendrez | you will understand | |
| ils / elles | comprendront | they will understand |
IN A SENTENCEFuture example
Plus tard, Paul comprendra cette explication.
Later, Paul will understand this explanation.
Conditional Conditionnel présent
Hypothetical events and polite requests.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | comprendrais | I would understand | |
| tu | comprendrais | you would understand | |
| il / elle / on | comprendrait | he / she / it would understandon: we would understand / one would understand | |
| nous | comprendrions | we would understand | |
| vous | comprendriez | you would understand | |
| ils / elles | comprendraient | they would understand |
IN A SENTENCEConditional example
Paul comprendrait cette explication.
Paul would understand this explanation.
Present subjunctive Subjonctif présent
Dependent clauses expressing wishes, necessity, doubt, and certain feelings.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | comprenne | (that) I understand | |
| tu | comprennes | (that) you understand | |
| il / elle / on | comprenne | (that) he / she / it understandson: (that) we understand / one understands | |
| nous | comprenions | (that) we understand | |
| vous | compreniez | (that) you understand | |
| ils / elles | comprennent | (that) they understand |
IN A SENTENCEPresent subjunctive example
Il est possible que Paul comprenne cette explication.
It is possible that Paul understands this explanation.
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 understand, comprehend
- to comprise, include
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