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 untangle.”
Present Présent
Habits, current states, and actions happening now.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | débrouille | I untangle | |
| tu | débrouilles | you untangle | |
| il / elle / on | débrouille | he / she / it untangleson: we untangle / one untangles | |
| nous | débrouillons | we untangle | |
| vous | débrouillez | you untangle | |
| ils / elles | débrouillent | they untangle |
IN A SENTENCEPresent example
Paul débrouille les fils de laine.
Paul untangles the wool threads.
Passé composé
Completed past events, using avoir or être plus a past participle.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | ai débrouillé | I untangled | |
| tu | as débrouillé | you untangled | |
| il / elle / on | a débrouillé | he / she / it untangledon: we untangled / one untangled | |
| nous | avons débrouillé | we untangled | |
| vous | avez débrouillé | you untangled | |
| ils / elles | ont débrouillé | they untangled |
IN A SENTENCEPassé composé example
Hier, Paul a débrouillé les fils de laine.
Yesterday, Paul untangled the wool threads.
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’ | débrouillais | I used to untangle | |
| tu | débrouillais | you used to untangle | |
| il / elle / on | débrouillait | he / she / it used to untangleon: we used to untangle / one used to untangle | |
| nous | débrouillions | we used to untangle | |
| vous | débrouilliez | you used to untangle | |
| ils / elles | débrouillaient | they used to untangle |
IN A SENTENCEImperfect example
Autrefois, Paul débrouillait les fils de laine.
Back then, Paul used to untangle the wool threads.
Future Futur simple
Future events and predictions.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | débrouillerai | I will untangle | |
| tu | débrouilleras | you will untangle | |
| il / elle / on | débrouillera | he / she / it will untangleon: we will untangle / one will untangle | |
| nous | débrouillerons | we will untangle | |
| vous | débrouillerez | you will untangle | |
| ils / elles | débrouilleront | they will untangle |
IN A SENTENCEFuture example
Plus tard, Paul débrouillera les fils de laine.
Later, Paul will untangle the wool threads.
Conditional Conditionnel présent
Hypothetical events and polite requests.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | débrouillerais | I would untangle | |
| tu | débrouillerais | you would untangle | |
| il / elle / on | débrouillerait | he / she / it would untangleon: we would untangle / one would untangle | |
| nous | débrouillerions | we would untangle | |
| vous | débrouilleriez | you would untangle | |
| ils / elles | débrouilleraient | they would untangle |
IN A SENTENCEConditional example
Paul débrouillerait les fils de laine.
Paul would untangle the wool threads.
Present subjunctive Subjonctif présent
Dependent clauses expressing wishes, necessity, doubt, and certain feelings.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | débrouille | (that) I untangle | |
| tu | débrouilles | (that) you untangle | |
| il / elle / on | débrouille | (that) he / she / it untangleson: (that) we untangle / one untangles | |
| nous | débrouillions | (that) we untangle | |
| vous | débrouilliez | (that) you untangle | |
| ils / elles | débrouillent | (that) they untangle |
IN A SENTENCEPresent subjunctive example
Il est possible que Paul débrouille les fils de laine.
It is possible that Paul untangles the wool threads.
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 disentangle (threads)
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