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 contradict.”
Present Présent
Habits, current states, and actions happening now.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | contredis | I contradict | |
| tu | contredis | you contradict | |
| il / elle / on | contredit | he / she / it contradictson: we contradict / one contradicts | |
| nous | contredisons | we contradict | |
| vous | contredisez | you contradict | |
| ils / elles | contredisent | they contradict |
IN A SENTENCEPresent example
Paul contredit le témoignage du voisin.
Paul contradicts the neighbor's testimony.
Passé composé
Completed past events, using avoir or être plus a past participle.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | ai contredit | I contradicted | |
| tu | as contredit | you contradicted | |
| il / elle / on | a contredit | he / she / it contradictedon: we contradicted / one contradicted | |
| nous | avons contredit | we contradicted | |
| vous | avez contredit | you contradicted | |
| ils / elles | ont contredit | they contradicted |
IN A SENTENCEPassé composé example
Hier, Paul a contredit le témoignage du voisin.
Yesterday, Paul contradicted the neighbor's testimony.
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’ | contredisais | I used to contradict | |
| tu | contredisais | you used to contradict | |
| il / elle / on | contredisait | he / she / it used to contradicton: we used to contradict / one used to contradict | |
| nous | contredisions | we used to contradict | |
| vous | contredisiez | you used to contradict | |
| ils / elles | contredisaient | they used to contradict |
IN A SENTENCEImperfect example
Autrefois, Paul contredisait le témoignage du voisin.
Back then, Paul used to contradict the neighbor's testimony.
Future Futur simple
Future events and predictions.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | contredirai | I will contradict | |
| tu | contrediras | you will contradict | |
| il / elle / on | contredira | he / she / it will contradicton: we will contradict / one will contradict | |
| nous | contredirons | we will contradict | |
| vous | contredirez | you will contradict | |
| ils / elles | contrediront | they will contradict |
IN A SENTENCEFuture example
Plus tard, Paul contredira le témoignage du voisin.
Later, Paul will contradict the neighbor's testimony.
Conditional Conditionnel présent
Hypothetical events and polite requests.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | contredirais | I would contradict | |
| tu | contredirais | you would contradict | |
| il / elle / on | contredirait | he / she / it would contradicton: we would contradict / one would contradict | |
| nous | contredirions | we would contradict | |
| vous | contrediriez | you would contradict | |
| ils / elles | contrediraient | they would contradict |
IN A SENTENCEConditional example
Paul contredirait le témoignage du voisin.
Paul would contradict the neighbor's testimony.
Present subjunctive Subjonctif présent
Dependent clauses expressing wishes, necessity, doubt, and certain feelings.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | contredise | (that) I contradict | |
| tu | contredises | (that) you contradict | |
| il / elle / on | contredise | (that) he / she / it contradictson: (that) we contradict / one contradicts | |
| nous | contredisions | (that) we contradict | |
| vous | contredisiez | (that) you contradict | |
| ils / elles | contredisent | (that) they contradict |
IN A SENTENCEPresent subjunctive example
Il est possible que Paul contredise le témoignage du voisin.
It is possible that Paul contradicts the neighbor's testimony.
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 contradict
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