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 correspond.”
Present Présent
Habits, current states, and actions happening now.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | corresponds | I correspond | |
| tu | corresponds | you correspond | |
| il / elle / on | correspond | he / she / it correspondson: we correspond / one corresponds | |
| nous | correspondons | we correspond | |
| vous | correspondez | you correspond | |
| ils / elles | correspondent | they correspond |
IN A SENTENCEPresent example
Paul correspond avec un ami au Canada.
Paul corresponds with a friend in Canada.
Passé composé
Completed past events, using avoir or être plus a past participle.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | ai correspondu | I corresponded | |
| tu | as correspondu | you corresponded | |
| il / elle / on | a correspondu | he / she / it correspondedon: we corresponded / one corresponded | |
| nous | avons correspondu | we corresponded | |
| vous | avez correspondu | you corresponded | |
| ils / elles | ont correspondu | they corresponded |
IN A SENTENCEPassé composé example
Hier, Paul a correspondu avec un ami au Canada.
Yesterday, Paul corresponded with a friend in Canada.
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’ | correspondais | I used to correspond | |
| tu | correspondais | you used to correspond | |
| il / elle / on | correspondait | he / she / it used to correspondon: we used to correspond / one used to correspond | |
| nous | correspondions | we used to correspond | |
| vous | correspondiez | you used to correspond | |
| ils / elles | correspondaient | they used to correspond |
IN A SENTENCEImperfect example
Autrefois, Paul correspondait avec un ami au Canada.
Back then, Paul used to correspond with a friend in Canada.
Future Futur simple
Future events and predictions.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | correspondrai | I will correspond | |
| tu | correspondras | you will correspond | |
| il / elle / on | correspondra | he / she / it will correspondon: we will correspond / one will correspond | |
| nous | correspondrons | we will correspond | |
| vous | correspondrez | you will correspond | |
| ils / elles | correspondront | they will correspond |
IN A SENTENCEFuture example
Plus tard, Paul correspondra avec un ami au Canada.
Later, Paul will correspond with a friend in Canada.
Conditional Conditionnel présent
Hypothetical events and polite requests.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | correspondrais | I would correspond | |
| tu | correspondrais | you would correspond | |
| il / elle / on | correspondrait | he / she / it would correspondon: we would correspond / one would correspond | |
| nous | correspondrions | we would correspond | |
| vous | correspondriez | you would correspond | |
| ils / elles | correspondraient | they would correspond |
IN A SENTENCEConditional example
Paul correspondrait avec un ami au Canada.
Paul would correspond with a friend in Canada.
Present subjunctive Subjonctif présent
Dependent clauses expressing wishes, necessity, doubt, and certain feelings.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | corresponde | (that) I correspond | |
| tu | correspondes | (that) you correspond | |
| il / elle / on | corresponde | (that) he / she / it correspondson: (that) we correspond / one corresponds | |
| nous | correspondions | (that) we correspond | |
| vous | correspondiez | (that) you correspond | |
| ils / elles | correspondent | (that) they correspond |
IN A SENTENCEPresent subjunctive example
Il est possible que Paul corresponde avec un ami au Canada.
It is possible that Paul corresponds with a friend in Canada.
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 correspond
- to write to
- to transfer (on public transit)
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