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 cost.”
Present Présent
Habits, current states, and actions happening now.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | coûte | I cost | |
| tu | coûtes | you cost | |
| il / elle / on | coûte | he / she / it costson: we cost / one costs | |
| nous | coûtons | we cost | |
| vous | coûtez | you cost | |
| ils / elles | coûtent | they cost |
IN A SENTENCEPresent example
Ce billet coûte vingt euros.
This ticket costs twenty euros.
Passé composé
Completed past events, using avoir or être plus a past participle.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | ai coûté | I cost | |
| tu | as coûté | you cost | |
| il / elle / on | a coûté | he / she / it coston: we cost / one cost | |
| nous | avons coûté | we cost | |
| vous | avez coûté | you cost | |
| ils / elles | ont coûté | they cost |
IN A SENTENCEPassé composé example
Hier, ce billet a coûté vingt euros.
Yesterday, this ticket cost twenty euros.
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’ | coûtais | I used to cost | |
| tu | coûtais | you used to cost | |
| il / elle / on | coûtait | he / she / it used to coston: we used to cost / one used to cost | |
| nous | coûtions | we used to cost | |
| vous | coûtiez | you used to cost | |
| ils / elles | coûtaient | they used to cost |
IN A SENTENCEImperfect example
Autrefois, ce billet coûtait vingt euros.
Back then, this ticket used to cost twenty euros.
Future Futur simple
Future events and predictions.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | coûterai | I will cost | |
| tu | coûteras | you will cost | |
| il / elle / on | coûtera | he / she / it will coston: we will cost / one will cost | |
| nous | coûterons | we will cost | |
| vous | coûterez | you will cost | |
| ils / elles | coûteront | they will cost |
IN A SENTENCEFuture example
Plus tard, ce billet coûtera vingt euros.
Later, this ticket will cost twenty euros.
Conditional Conditionnel présent
Hypothetical events and polite requests.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | coûterais | I would cost | |
| tu | coûterais | you would cost | |
| il / elle / on | coûterait | he / she / it would coston: we would cost / one would cost | |
| nous | coûterions | we would cost | |
| vous | coûteriez | you would cost | |
| ils / elles | coûteraient | they would cost |
IN A SENTENCEConditional example
Ce billet coûterait vingt euros.
This ticket would cost twenty euros.
Present subjunctive Subjonctif présent
Dependent clauses expressing wishes, necessity, doubt, and certain feelings.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | coûte | (that) I cost | |
| tu | coûtes | (that) you cost | |
| il / elle / on | coûte | (that) he / she / it costson: (that) we cost / one costs | |
| nous | coûtions | (that) we cost | |
| vous | coûtiez | (that) you cost | |
| ils / elles | coûtent | (that) they cost |
IN A SENTENCEPresent subjunctive example
Il est possible que ce billet coûte vingt euros.
It is possible that this ticket costs twenty euros.
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 cost
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