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 know.”
Present Présent
Habits, current states, and actions happening now.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | connais | I know | |
| tu | connais | you know | |
| il / elle / on | connaît | he / she / it knowson: we know / one knows | |
| nous | connaissons | we know | |
| vous | connaissez | you know | |
| ils / elles | connaissent | they know |
IN A SENTENCEPresent example
Paul connaît bien cette ville.
Paul knows this city well.
Passé composé
Completed past events, using avoir or être plus a past participle.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | ai connu | I knew | |
| tu | as connu | you knew | |
| il / elle / on | a connu | he / she / it knewon: we knew / one knew | |
| nous | avons connu | we knew | |
| vous | avez connu | you knew | |
| ils / elles | ont connu | they knew |
IN A SENTENCEPassé composé example
Hier, Paul a connu bien cette ville.
Yesterday, Paul knew this city well.
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’ | connaissais | I knew | |
| tu | connaissais | you knew | |
| il / elle / on | connaissait | he / she / it knewon: we knew / one knew | |
| nous | connaissions | we knew | |
| vous | connaissiez | you knew | |
| ils / elles | connaissaient | they knew |
IN A SENTENCEImperfect example
Autrefois, Paul connaissait bien cette ville.
Back then, Paul knew this city well.
Future Futur simple
Future events and predictions.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | connaîtrai | I will know | |
| tu | connaîtras | you will know | |
| il / elle / on | connaîtra | he / she / it will knowon: we will know / one will know | |
| nous | connaîtrons | we will know | |
| vous | connaîtrez | you will know | |
| ils / elles | connaîtront | they will know |
IN A SENTENCEFuture example
Plus tard, Paul connaîtra bien cette ville.
Later, Paul will know this city well.
Conditional Conditionnel présent
Hypothetical events and polite requests.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | connaîtrais | I would know | |
| tu | connaîtrais | you would know | |
| il / elle / on | connaîtrait | he / she / it would knowon: we would know / one would know | |
| nous | connaîtrions | we would know | |
| vous | connaîtriez | you would know | |
| ils / elles | connaîtraient | they would know |
IN A SENTENCEConditional example
Paul connaîtrait bien cette ville.
Paul would know this city well.
Present subjunctive Subjonctif présent
Dependent clauses expressing wishes, necessity, doubt, and certain feelings.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | connaisse | (that) I know | |
| tu | connaisses | (that) you know | |
| il / elle / on | connaisse | (that) he / she / it knowson: (that) we know / one knows | |
| nous | connaissions | (that) we know | |
| vous | connaissiez | (that) you know | |
| ils / elles | connaissent | (that) they know |
IN A SENTENCEPresent subjunctive example
Il est possible que Paul connaisse bien cette ville.
It is possible that Paul knows this city well.
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 know (of), to be familiar with (a person, place, fact, event)
- to know, to experience (glory, hunger, problems etc.)
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