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 run.”
Present Présent
Habits, current states, and actions happening now.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | cours | I run | |
| tu | cours | you run | |
| il / elle / on | court | he / she / it runson: we run / one runs | |
| nous | courons | we run | |
| vous | courez | you run | |
| ils / elles | courent | they run |
IN A SENTENCEPresent example
Paul court dans le parc.
Paul runs in the park.
Passé composé
Completed past events, using avoir or être plus a past participle.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | ai couru | I ran | |
| tu | as couru | you ran | |
| il / elle / on | a couru | he / she / it ranon: we ran / one ran | |
| nous | avons couru | we ran | |
| vous | avez couru | you ran | |
| ils / elles | ont couru | they ran |
IN A SENTENCEPassé composé example
Hier, Paul a couru dans le parc.
Yesterday, Paul ran in the park.
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’ | courais | I used to run | |
| tu | courais | you used to run | |
| il / elle / on | courait | he / she / it used to runon: we used to run / one used to run | |
| nous | courions | we used to run | |
| vous | couriez | you used to run | |
| ils / elles | couraient | they used to run |
IN A SENTENCEImperfect example
Autrefois, Paul courait dans le parc.
Back then, Paul used to run in the park.
Future Futur simple
Future events and predictions.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | courrai | I will run | |
| tu | courras | you will run | |
| il / elle / on | courra | he / she / it will runon: we will run / one will run | |
| nous | courrons | we will run | |
| vous | courrez | you will run | |
| ils / elles | courront | they will run |
IN A SENTENCEFuture example
Plus tard, Paul courra dans le parc.
Later, Paul will run in the park.
Conditional Conditionnel présent
Hypothetical events and polite requests.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | courrais | I would run | |
| tu | courrais | you would run | |
| il / elle / on | courrait | he / she / it would runon: we would run / one would run | |
| nous | courrions | we would run | |
| vous | courriez | you would run | |
| ils / elles | courraient | they would run |
IN A SENTENCEConditional example
Paul courrait dans le parc.
Paul would run in the park.
Present subjunctive Subjonctif présent
Dependent clauses expressing wishes, necessity, doubt, and certain feelings.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | coure | (that) I run | |
| tu | coures | (that) you run | |
| il / elle / on | coure | (that) he / she / it runson: (that) we run / one runs | |
| nous | courions | (that) we run | |
| vous | couriez | (that) you run | |
| ils / elles | courent | (that) they run |
IN A SENTENCEPresent subjunctive example
Il est possible que Paul coure dans le parc.
It is possible that Paul runs in the park.
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 run
- to hurry; to rush
- to go
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