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 sink.”
Present Présent
Habits, current states, and actions happening now.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | coule | I sink | |
| tu | coules | you sink | |
| il / elle / on | coule | he / she / it sinkson: we sink / one sinks | |
| nous | coulons | we sink | |
| vous | coulez | you sink | |
| ils / elles | coulent | they sink |
IN A SENTENCEPresent example
Le bateau coule près de la côte.
The boat sinks near the coast.
Passé composé
Completed past events, using avoir or être plus a past participle.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | ai coulé | I sank | |
| tu | as coulé | you sank | |
| il / elle / on | a coulé | he / she / it sankon: we sank / one sank | |
| nous | avons coulé | we sank | |
| vous | avez coulé | you sank | |
| ils / elles | ont coulé | they sank |
IN A SENTENCEPassé composé example
Hier, le bateau a coulé près de la côte.
Yesterday, the boat sank near the coast.
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’ | coulais | I used to sink | |
| tu | coulais | you used to sink | |
| il / elle / on | coulait | he / she / it used to sinkon: we used to sink / one used to sink | |
| nous | coulions | we used to sink | |
| vous | couliez | you used to sink | |
| ils / elles | coulaient | they used to sink |
IN A SENTENCEImperfect example
Autrefois, le bateau coulait près de la côte.
Back then, the boat used to sink near the coast.
Future Futur simple
Future events and predictions.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | coulerai | I will sink | |
| tu | couleras | you will sink | |
| il / elle / on | coulera | he / she / it will sinkon: we will sink / one will sink | |
| nous | coulerons | we will sink | |
| vous | coulerez | you will sink | |
| ils / elles | couleront | they will sink |
IN A SENTENCEFuture example
Plus tard, le bateau coulera près de la côte.
Later, the boat will sink near the coast.
Conditional Conditionnel présent
Hypothetical events and polite requests.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | coulerais | I would sink | |
| tu | coulerais | you would sink | |
| il / elle / on | coulerait | he / she / it would sinkon: we would sink / one would sink | |
| nous | coulerions | we would sink | |
| vous | couleriez | you would sink | |
| ils / elles | couleraient | they would sink |
IN A SENTENCEConditional example
Le bateau coulerait près de la côte.
The boat would sink near the coast.
Present subjunctive Subjonctif présent
Dependent clauses expressing wishes, necessity, doubt, and certain feelings.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | coule | (that) I sink | |
| tu | coules | (that) you sink | |
| il / elle / on | coule | (that) he / she / it sinkson: (that) we sink / one sinks | |
| nous | coulions | (that) we sink | |
| vous | couliez | (that) you sink | |
| ils / elles | coulent | (that) they sink |
IN A SENTENCEPresent subjunctive example
Il est possible que le bateau coule près de la côte.
It is possible that the boat sinks near the coast.
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 sink
- to cast (metal); to pour (liquid)
- to flow, to run; to slip, to skid
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