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 creak.”
Present Présent
Habits, current states, and actions happening now.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | craque | I creak | |
| tu | craques | you creak | |
| il / elle / on | craque | he / she / it creakson: we creak / one creaks | |
| nous | craquons | we creak | |
| vous | craquez | you creak | |
| ils / elles | craquent | they creak |
IN A SENTENCEPresent example
Le plancher craque sous les pas de Paul.
The floor creaks under Paul's footsteps.
Passé composé
Completed past events, using avoir or être plus a past participle.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | ai craqué | I creaked | |
| tu | as craqué | you creaked | |
| il / elle / on | a craqué | he / she / it creakedon: we creaked / one creaked | |
| nous | avons craqué | we creaked | |
| vous | avez craqué | you creaked | |
| ils / elles | ont craqué | they creaked |
IN A SENTENCEPassé composé example
Hier, le plancher a craqué sous les pas de Paul.
Yesterday, the floor creaked under Paul's footsteps.
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’ | craquais | I used to creak | |
| tu | craquais | you used to creak | |
| il / elle / on | craquait | he / she / it used to creakon: we used to creak / one used to creak | |
| nous | craquions | we used to creak | |
| vous | craquiez | you used to creak | |
| ils / elles | craquaient | they used to creak |
IN A SENTENCEImperfect example
Autrefois, le plancher craquait sous les pas de Paul.
Back then, the floor used to creak under Paul's footsteps.
Future Futur simple
Future events and predictions.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | craquerai | I will creak | |
| tu | craqueras | you will creak | |
| il / elle / on | craquera | he / she / it will creakon: we will creak / one will creak | |
| nous | craquerons | we will creak | |
| vous | craquerez | you will creak | |
| ils / elles | craqueront | they will creak |
IN A SENTENCEFuture example
Plus tard, le plancher craquera sous les pas de Paul.
Later, the floor will creak under Paul's footsteps.
Conditional Conditionnel présent
Hypothetical events and polite requests.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | craquerais | I would creak | |
| tu | craquerais | you would creak | |
| il / elle / on | craquerait | he / she / it would creakon: we would creak / one would creak | |
| nous | craquerions | we would creak | |
| vous | craqueriez | you would creak | |
| ils / elles | craqueraient | they would creak |
IN A SENTENCEConditional example
Le plancher craquerait sous les pas de Paul.
The floor would creak under Paul's footsteps.
Present subjunctive Subjonctif présent
Dependent clauses expressing wishes, necessity, doubt, and certain feelings.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | craque | (that) I creak | |
| tu | craques | (that) you creak | |
| il / elle / on | craque | (that) he / she / it creakson: (that) we creak / one creaks | |
| nous | craquions | (that) we creak | |
| vous | craquiez | (that) you creak | |
| ils / elles | craquent | (that) they creak |
IN A SENTENCEPresent subjunctive example
Il est possible que le plancher craque sous les pas de Paul.
It is possible that the floor creaks under Paul's footsteps.
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 split, to break
- to crack (petroleum)
- to crack, to creak, to crunch
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