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 lay.”
Present Présent
Habits, current states, and actions happening now.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | couche | I lay | |
| tu | couches | you lay | |
| il / elle / on | couche | he / she / it layson: we lay / one lays | |
| nous | couchons | we lay | |
| vous | couchez | you lay | |
| ils / elles | couchent | they lay |
IN A SENTENCEPresent example
Paul couche son enfant sur le lit.
Paul lays his child on the bed.
Passé composé
Completed past events, using avoir or être plus a past participle.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | ai couché | I laid | |
| tu | as couché | you laid | |
| il / elle / on | a couché | he / she / it laidon: we laid / one laid | |
| nous | avons couché | we laid | |
| vous | avez couché | you laid | |
| ils / elles | ont couché | they laid |
IN A SENTENCEPassé composé example
Hier, Paul a couché son enfant sur le lit.
Yesterday, Paul laid his child on the bed.
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’ | couchais | I used to lay | |
| tu | couchais | you used to lay | |
| il / elle / on | couchait | he / she / it used to layon: we used to lay / one used to lay | |
| nous | couchions | we used to lay | |
| vous | couchiez | you used to lay | |
| ils / elles | couchaient | they used to lay |
IN A SENTENCEImperfect example
Autrefois, Paul couchait son enfant sur le lit.
Back then, Paul used to lay his child on the bed.
Future Futur simple
Future events and predictions.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | coucherai | I will lay | |
| tu | coucheras | you will lay | |
| il / elle / on | couchera | he / she / it will layon: we will lay / one will lay | |
| nous | coucherons | we will lay | |
| vous | coucherez | you will lay | |
| ils / elles | coucheront | they will lay |
IN A SENTENCEFuture example
Plus tard, Paul couchera son enfant sur le lit.
Later, Paul will lay his child on the bed.
Conditional Conditionnel présent
Hypothetical events and polite requests.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | coucherais | I would lay | |
| tu | coucherais | you would lay | |
| il / elle / on | coucherait | he / she / it would layon: we would lay / one would lay | |
| nous | coucherions | we would lay | |
| vous | coucheriez | you would lay | |
| ils / elles | coucheraient | they would lay |
IN A SENTENCEConditional example
Paul coucherait son enfant sur le lit.
Paul would lay his child on the bed.
Present subjunctive Subjonctif présent
Dependent clauses expressing wishes, necessity, doubt, and certain feelings.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | couche | (that) I lay | |
| tu | couches | (that) you lay | |
| il / elle / on | couche | (that) he / she / it layson: (that) we lay / one lays | |
| nous | couchions | (that) we lay | |
| vous | couchiez | (that) you lay | |
| ils / elles | couchent | (that) they lay |
IN A SENTENCEPresent subjunctive example
Il est possible que Paul couche son enfant sur le lit.
It is possible that Paul lays his child on the bed.
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 lay, to lay down
- to put to bed, to put up (a lodger)
- to lodge, to beat down (wheat)
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