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 contribute.”
Present Présent
Habits, current states, and actions happening now.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | contribue | I contribute | |
| tu | contribues | you contribute | |
| il / elle / on | contribue | he / she / it contributeson: we contribute / one contributes | |
| nous | contribuons | we contribute | |
| vous | contribuez | you contribute | |
| ils / elles | contribuent | they contribute |
IN A SENTENCEPresent example
Paul contribue au projet de son quartier.
Paul contributes to his neighborhood's project.
Passé composé
Completed past events, using avoir or être plus a past participle.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | ai contribué | I contributed | |
| tu | as contribué | you contributed | |
| il / elle / on | a contribué | he / she / it contributedon: we contributed / one contributed | |
| nous | avons contribué | we contributed | |
| vous | avez contribué | you contributed | |
| ils / elles | ont contribué | they contributed |
IN A SENTENCEPassé composé example
Hier, Paul a contribué au projet de son quartier.
Yesterday, Paul contributed to his neighborhood's project.
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’ | contribuais | I used to contribute | |
| tu | contribuais | you used to contribute | |
| il / elle / on | contribuait | he / she / it used to contributeon: we used to contribute / one used to contribute | |
| nous | contribuions | we used to contribute | |
| vous | contribuiez | you used to contribute | |
| ils / elles | contribuaient | they used to contribute |
IN A SENTENCEImperfect example
Autrefois, Paul contribuait au projet de son quartier.
Back then, Paul used to contribute to his neighborhood's project.
Future Futur simple
Future events and predictions.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | contribuerai | I will contribute | |
| tu | contribueras | you will contribute | |
| il / elle / on | contribuera | he / she / it will contributeon: we will contribute / one will contribute | |
| nous | contribuerons | we will contribute | |
| vous | contribuerez | you will contribute | |
| ils / elles | contribueront | they will contribute |
IN A SENTENCEFuture example
Plus tard, Paul contribuera au projet de son quartier.
Later, Paul will contribute to his neighborhood's project.
Conditional Conditionnel présent
Hypothetical events and polite requests.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | contribuerais | I would contribute | |
| tu | contribuerais | you would contribute | |
| il / elle / on | contribuerait | he / she / it would contributeon: we would contribute / one would contribute | |
| nous | contribuerions | we would contribute | |
| vous | contribueriez | you would contribute | |
| ils / elles | contribueraient | they would contribute |
IN A SENTENCEConditional example
Paul contribuerait au projet de son quartier.
Paul would contribute to his neighborhood's project.
Present subjunctive Subjonctif présent
Dependent clauses expressing wishes, necessity, doubt, and certain feelings.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | contribue | (that) I contribute | |
| tu | contribues | (that) you contribute | |
| il / elle / on | contribue | (that) he / she / it contributeson: (that) we contribute / one contributes | |
| nous | contribuions | (that) we contribute | |
| vous | contribuiez | (that) you contribute | |
| ils / elles | contribuent | (that) they contribute |
IN A SENTENCEPresent subjunctive example
Il est possible que Paul contribue au projet de son quartier.
It is possible that Paul contributes to his neighborhood's project.
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 contribute
- to help
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