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 debate.”
Present Présent
Habits, current states, and actions happening now.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | débats | I debate | |
| tu | débats | you debate | |
| il / elle / on | débat | he / she / it debateson: we debate / one debates | |
| nous | débattons | we debate | |
| vous | débattez | you debate | |
| ils / elles | débattent | they debate |
IN A SENTENCEPresent example
Le comité débat du nouveau règlement.
The committee debates the new regulations.
Passé composé
Completed past events, using avoir or être plus a past participle.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | ai débattu | I debated | |
| tu | as débattu | you debated | |
| il / elle / on | a débattu | he / she / it debatedon: we debated / one debated | |
| nous | avons débattu | we debated | |
| vous | avez débattu | you debated | |
| ils / elles | ont débattu | they debated |
IN A SENTENCEPassé composé example
Hier, le comité a débattu du nouveau règlement.
Yesterday, the committee debated the new regulations.
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’ | débattais | I used to debate | |
| tu | débattais | you used to debate | |
| il / elle / on | débattait | he / she / it used to debateon: we used to debate / one used to debate | |
| nous | débattions | we used to debate | |
| vous | débattiez | you used to debate | |
| ils / elles | débattaient | they used to debate |
IN A SENTENCEImperfect example
Autrefois, le comité débattait du nouveau règlement.
Back then, the committee used to debate the new regulations.
Future Futur simple
Future events and predictions.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | débattrai | I will debate | |
| tu | débattras | you will debate | |
| il / elle / on | débattra | he / she / it will debateon: we will debate / one will debate | |
| nous | débattrons | we will debate | |
| vous | débattrez | you will debate | |
| ils / elles | débattront | they will debate |
IN A SENTENCEFuture example
Plus tard, le comité débattra du nouveau règlement.
Later, the committee will debate the new regulations.
Conditional Conditionnel présent
Hypothetical events and polite requests.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | débattrais | I would debate | |
| tu | débattrais | you would debate | |
| il / elle / on | débattrait | he / she / it would debateon: we would debate / one would debate | |
| nous | débattrions | we would debate | |
| vous | débattriez | you would debate | |
| ils / elles | débattraient | they would debate |
IN A SENTENCEConditional example
Le comité débattrait du nouveau règlement.
The committee would debate the new regulations.
Present subjunctive Subjonctif présent
Dependent clauses expressing wishes, necessity, doubt, and certain feelings.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | débatte | (that) I debate | |
| tu | débattes | (that) you debate | |
| il / elle / on | débatte | (that) he / she / it debateson: (that) we debate / one debates | |
| nous | débattions | (that) we debate | |
| vous | débattiez | (that) you debate | |
| ils / elles | débattent | (that) they debate |
IN A SENTENCEPresent subjunctive example
Il est possible que le comité débatte du nouveau règlement.
It is possible that the committee debates the new regulations.
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 debate; to discuss
- to negotiate
- to discuss, debate
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