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 contain.”
Present Présent
Habits, current states, and actions happening now.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | contiens | I contain | |
| tu | contiens | you contain | |
| il / elle / on | contient | he / she / it containson: we contain / one contains | |
| nous | contenons | we contain | |
| vous | contenez | you contain | |
| ils / elles | contiennent | they contain |
IN A SENTENCEPresent example
Ce carton contient des livres anciens.
This box contains old books.
Passé composé
Completed past events, using avoir or être plus a past participle.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | ai contenu | I contained | |
| tu | as contenu | you contained | |
| il / elle / on | a contenu | he / she / it containedon: we contained / one contained | |
| nous | avons contenu | we contained | |
| vous | avez contenu | you contained | |
| ils / elles | ont contenu | they contained |
IN A SENTENCEPassé composé example
Hier, ce carton a contenu des livres anciens.
Yesterday, this box contained old books.
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’ | contenais | I used to contain | |
| tu | contenais | you used to contain | |
| il / elle / on | contenait | he / she / it used to containon: we used to contain / one used to contain | |
| nous | contenions | we used to contain | |
| vous | conteniez | you used to contain | |
| ils / elles | contenaient | they used to contain |
IN A SENTENCEImperfect example
Autrefois, ce carton contenait des livres anciens.
Back then, this box used to contain old books.
Future Futur simple
Future events and predictions.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | contiendrai | I will contain | |
| tu | contiendras | you will contain | |
| il / elle / on | contiendra | he / she / it will containon: we will contain / one will contain | |
| nous | contiendrons | we will contain | |
| vous | contiendrez | you will contain | |
| ils / elles | contiendront | they will contain |
IN A SENTENCEFuture example
Plus tard, ce carton contiendra des livres anciens.
Later, this box will contain old books.
Conditional Conditionnel présent
Hypothetical events and polite requests.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | contiendrais | I would contain | |
| tu | contiendrais | you would contain | |
| il / elle / on | contiendrait | he / she / it would containon: we would contain / one would contain | |
| nous | contiendrions | we would contain | |
| vous | contiendriez | you would contain | |
| ils / elles | contiendraient | they would contain |
IN A SENTENCEConditional example
Ce carton contiendrait des livres anciens.
This box would contain old books.
Present subjunctive Subjonctif présent
Dependent clauses expressing wishes, necessity, doubt, and certain feelings.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | contienne | (that) I contain | |
| tu | contiennes | (that) you contain | |
| il / elle / on | contienne | (that) he / she / it containson: (that) we contain / one contains | |
| nous | contenions | (that) we contain | |
| vous | conteniez | (that) you contain | |
| ils / elles | contiennent | (that) they contain |
IN A SENTENCEPresent subjunctive example
Il est possible que ce carton contienne des livres anciens.
It is possible that this box contains old books.
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 contain
- to contain, to hold back, to keep in check (to control)
- to hold, to take, to seat (to have a capacity of)
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