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 comfort.”
Present Présent
Habits, current states, and actions happening now.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | console | I comfort | |
| tu | consoles | you comfort | |
| il / elle / on | console | he / she / it comfortson: we comfort / one comforts | |
| nous | consolons | we comfort | |
| vous | consolez | you comfort | |
| ils / elles | consolent | they comfort |
IN A SENTENCEPresent example
Paul console son fils après la défaite.
Paul comforts his son after the defeat.
Passé composé
Completed past events, using avoir or être plus a past participle.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | ai consolé | I comforted | |
| tu | as consolé | you comforted | |
| il / elle / on | a consolé | he / she / it comfortedon: we comforted / one comforted | |
| nous | avons consolé | we comforted | |
| vous | avez consolé | you comforted | |
| ils / elles | ont consolé | they comforted |
IN A SENTENCEPassé composé example
Hier, Paul a consolé son fils après la défaite.
Yesterday, Paul comforted his son after the defeat.
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’ | consolais | I used to comfort | |
| tu | consolais | you used to comfort | |
| il / elle / on | consolait | he / she / it used to comforton: we used to comfort / one used to comfort | |
| nous | consolions | we used to comfort | |
| vous | consoliez | you used to comfort | |
| ils / elles | consolaient | they used to comfort |
IN A SENTENCEImperfect example
Autrefois, Paul consolait son fils après la défaite.
Back then, Paul used to comfort his son after the defeat.
Future Futur simple
Future events and predictions.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | consolerai | I will comfort | |
| tu | consoleras | you will comfort | |
| il / elle / on | consolera | he / she / it will comforton: we will comfort / one will comfort | |
| nous | consolerons | we will comfort | |
| vous | consolerez | you will comfort | |
| ils / elles | consoleront | they will comfort |
IN A SENTENCEFuture example
Plus tard, Paul consolera son fils après la défaite.
Later, Paul will comfort his son after the defeat.
Conditional Conditionnel présent
Hypothetical events and polite requests.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | consolerais | I would comfort | |
| tu | consolerais | you would comfort | |
| il / elle / on | consolerait | he / she / it would comforton: we would comfort / one would comfort | |
| nous | consolerions | we would comfort | |
| vous | consoleriez | you would comfort | |
| ils / elles | consoleraient | they would comfort |
IN A SENTENCEConditional example
Paul consolerait son fils après la défaite.
Paul would comfort his son after the defeat.
Present subjunctive Subjonctif présent
Dependent clauses expressing wishes, necessity, doubt, and certain feelings.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | console | (that) I comfort | |
| tu | consoles | (that) you comfort | |
| il / elle / on | console | (that) he / she / it comfortson: (that) we comfort / one comforts | |
| nous | consolions | (that) we comfort | |
| vous | consoliez | (that) you comfort | |
| ils / elles | consolent | (that) they comfort |
IN A SENTENCEPresent subjunctive example
Il est possible que Paul console son fils après la défaite.
It is possible that Paul comforts his son after the defeat.
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 comfort, console
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