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 copy.”
Present Présent
Habits, current states, and actions happening now.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | copie | I copy | |
| tu | copies | you copy | |
| il / elle / on | copie | he / she / it copieson: we copy / one copies | |
| nous | copions | we copy | |
| vous | copiez | you copy | |
| ils / elles | copient | they copy |
IN A SENTENCEPresent example
Paul copie l'adresse dans son carnet.
Paul copies the address into his notebook.
Passé composé
Completed past events, using avoir or être plus a past participle.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | ai copié | I copied | |
| tu | as copié | you copied | |
| il / elle / on | a copié | he / she / it copiedon: we copied / one copied | |
| nous | avons copié | we copied | |
| vous | avez copié | you copied | |
| ils / elles | ont copié | they copied |
IN A SENTENCEPassé composé example
Hier, Paul a copié l'adresse dans son carnet.
Yesterday, Paul copied the address into his notebook.
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’ | copiais | I used to copy | |
| tu | copiais | you used to copy | |
| il / elle / on | copiait | he / she / it used to copyon: we used to copy / one used to copy | |
| nous | copiions | we used to copy | |
| vous | copiiez | you used to copy | |
| ils / elles | copiaient | they used to copy |
IN A SENTENCEImperfect example
Autrefois, Paul copiait l'adresse dans son carnet.
Back then, Paul used to copy the address into his notebook.
Future Futur simple
Future events and predictions.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | copierai | I will copy | |
| tu | copieras | you will copy | |
| il / elle / on | copiera | he / she / it will copyon: we will copy / one will copy | |
| nous | copierons | we will copy | |
| vous | copierez | you will copy | |
| ils / elles | copieront | they will copy |
IN A SENTENCEFuture example
Plus tard, Paul copiera l'adresse dans son carnet.
Later, Paul will copy the address into his notebook.
Conditional Conditionnel présent
Hypothetical events and polite requests.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | copierais | I would copy | |
| tu | copierais | you would copy | |
| il / elle / on | copierait | he / she / it would copyon: we would copy / one would copy | |
| nous | copierions | we would copy | |
| vous | copieriez | you would copy | |
| ils / elles | copieraient | they would copy |
IN A SENTENCEConditional example
Paul copierait l'adresse dans son carnet.
Paul would copy the address into his notebook.
Present subjunctive Subjonctif présent
Dependent clauses expressing wishes, necessity, doubt, and certain feelings.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | copie | (that) I copy | |
| tu | copies | (that) you copy | |
| il / elle / on | copie | (that) he / she / it copieson: (that) we copy / one copies | |
| nous | copiions | (that) we copy | |
| vous | copiiez | (that) you copy | |
| ils / elles | copient | (that) they copy |
IN A SENTENCEPresent subjunctive example
Il est possible que Paul copie l'adresse dans son carnet.
It is possible that Paul copies the address into his notebook.
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 copy
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