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 cover.”
Present Présent
Habits, current states, and actions happening now.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | couvre | I cover | |
| tu | couvres | you cover | |
| il / elle / on | couvre | he / she / it coverson: we cover / one covers | |
| nous | couvrons | we cover | |
| vous | couvrez | you cover | |
| ils / elles | couvrent | they cover |
IN A SENTENCEPresent example
Paul couvre le plat avec un couvercle.
Paul covers the dish with a lid.
Passé composé
Completed past events, using avoir or être plus a past participle.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | ai couvert | I covered | |
| tu | as couvert | you covered | |
| il / elle / on | a couvert | he / she / it coveredon: we covered / one covered | |
| nous | avons couvert | we covered | |
| vous | avez couvert | you covered | |
| ils / elles | ont couvert | they covered |
IN A SENTENCEPassé composé example
Hier, Paul a couvert le plat avec un couvercle.
Yesterday, Paul covered the dish with a lid.
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’ | couvrais | I used to cover | |
| tu | couvrais | you used to cover | |
| il / elle / on | couvrait | he / she / it used to coveron: we used to cover / one used to cover | |
| nous | couvrions | we used to cover | |
| vous | couvriez | you used to cover | |
| ils / elles | couvraient | they used to cover |
IN A SENTENCEImperfect example
Autrefois, Paul couvrait le plat avec un couvercle.
Back then, Paul used to cover the dish with a lid.
Future Futur simple
Future events and predictions.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | couvrirai | I will cover | |
| tu | couvriras | you will cover | |
| il / elle / on | couvrira | he / she / it will coveron: we will cover / one will cover | |
| nous | couvrirons | we will cover | |
| vous | couvrirez | you will cover | |
| ils / elles | couvriront | they will cover |
IN A SENTENCEFuture example
Plus tard, Paul couvrira le plat avec un couvercle.
Later, Paul will cover the dish with a lid.
Conditional Conditionnel présent
Hypothetical events and polite requests.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | couvrirais | I would cover | |
| tu | couvrirais | you would cover | |
| il / elle / on | couvrirait | he / she / it would coveron: we would cover / one would cover | |
| nous | couvririons | we would cover | |
| vous | couvririez | you would cover | |
| ils / elles | couvriraient | they would cover |
IN A SENTENCEConditional example
Paul couvrirait le plat avec un couvercle.
Paul would cover the dish with a lid.
Present subjunctive Subjonctif présent
Dependent clauses expressing wishes, necessity, doubt, and certain feelings.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | couvre | (that) I cover | |
| tu | couvres | (that) you cover | |
| il / elle / on | couvre | (that) he / she / it coverson: (that) we cover / one covers | |
| nous | couvrions | (that) we cover | |
| vous | couvriez | (that) you cover | |
| ils / elles | couvrent | (that) they cover |
IN A SENTENCEPresent subjunctive example
Il est possible que Paul couvre le plat avec un couvercle.
It is possible that Paul covers the dish with a lid.
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 cover up, to cover (put a cover over)
- to cover (feature, discuss, mention)
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