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 consult.”
Present Présent
Habits, current states, and actions happening now.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | consulte | I consult | |
| tu | consultes | you consult | |
| il / elle / on | consulte | he / she / it consultson: we consult / one consults | |
| nous | consultons | we consult | |
| vous | consultez | you consult | |
| ils / elles | consultent | they consult |
IN A SENTENCEPresent example
Paul consulte le plan de la ville.
Paul consults the city map.
Passé composé
Completed past events, using avoir or être plus a past participle.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | ai consulté | I consulted | |
| tu | as consulté | you consulted | |
| il / elle / on | a consulté | he / she / it consultedon: we consulted / one consulted | |
| nous | avons consulté | we consulted | |
| vous | avez consulté | you consulted | |
| ils / elles | ont consulté | they consulted |
IN A SENTENCEPassé composé example
Hier, Paul a consulté le plan de la ville.
Yesterday, Paul consulted the city map.
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’ | consultais | I used to consult | |
| tu | consultais | you used to consult | |
| il / elle / on | consultait | he / she / it used to consulton: we used to consult / one used to consult | |
| nous | consultions | we used to consult | |
| vous | consultiez | you used to consult | |
| ils / elles | consultaient | they used to consult |
IN A SENTENCEImperfect example
Autrefois, Paul consultait le plan de la ville.
Back then, Paul used to consult the city map.
Future Futur simple
Future events and predictions.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | consulterai | I will consult | |
| tu | consulteras | you will consult | |
| il / elle / on | consultera | he / she / it will consulton: we will consult / one will consult | |
| nous | consulterons | we will consult | |
| vous | consulterez | you will consult | |
| ils / elles | consulteront | they will consult |
IN A SENTENCEFuture example
Plus tard, Paul consultera le plan de la ville.
Later, Paul will consult the city map.
Conditional Conditionnel présent
Hypothetical events and polite requests.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | consulterais | I would consult | |
| tu | consulterais | you would consult | |
| il / elle / on | consulterait | he / she / it would consulton: we would consult / one would consult | |
| nous | consulterions | we would consult | |
| vous | consulteriez | you would consult | |
| ils / elles | consulteraient | they would consult |
IN A SENTENCEConditional example
Paul consulterait le plan de la ville.
Paul would consult the city map.
Present subjunctive Subjonctif présent
Dependent clauses expressing wishes, necessity, doubt, and certain feelings.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | consulte | (that) I consult | |
| tu | consultes | (that) you consult | |
| il / elle / on | consulte | (that) he / she / it consultson: (that) we consult / one consults | |
| nous | consultions | (that) we consult | |
| vous | consultiez | (that) you consult | |
| ils / elles | consultent | (that) they consult |
IN A SENTENCEPresent subjunctive example
Il est possible que Paul consulte le plan de la ville.
It is possible that Paul consults the city map.
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 consult
- to refer to
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