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 begin.”
Present Présent
Habits, current states, and actions happening now.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | débute | I begin | |
| tu | débutes | you begin | |
| il / elle / on | débute | he / she / it beginson: we begin / one begins | |
| nous | débutons | we begin | |
| vous | débutez | you begin | |
| ils / elles | débutent | they begin |
IN A SENTENCEPresent example
Le spectacle débute à vingt heures.
The show begins at eight p.m..
Passé composé
Completed past events, using avoir or être plus a past participle.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | ai débuté | I began | |
| tu | as débuté | you began | |
| il / elle / on | a débuté | he / she / it beganon: we began / one began | |
| nous | avons débuté | we began | |
| vous | avez débuté | you began | |
| ils / elles | ont débuté | they began |
IN A SENTENCEPassé composé example
Hier, le spectacle a débuté à vingt heures.
Yesterday, the show began at eight p.m..
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’ | débutais | I used to begin | |
| tu | débutais | you used to begin | |
| il / elle / on | débutait | he / she / it used to beginon: we used to begin / one used to begin | |
| nous | débutions | we used to begin | |
| vous | débutiez | you used to begin | |
| ils / elles | débutaient | they used to begin |
IN A SENTENCEImperfect example
Autrefois, le spectacle débutait à vingt heures.
Back then, the show used to begin at eight p.m..
Future Futur simple
Future events and predictions.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | débuterai | I will begin | |
| tu | débuteras | you will begin | |
| il / elle / on | débutera | he / she / it will beginon: we will begin / one will begin | |
| nous | débuterons | we will begin | |
| vous | débuterez | you will begin | |
| ils / elles | débuteront | they will begin |
IN A SENTENCEFuture example
Plus tard, le spectacle débutera à vingt heures.
Later, the show will begin at eight p.m..
Conditional Conditionnel présent
Hypothetical events and polite requests.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | débuterais | I would begin | |
| tu | débuterais | you would begin | |
| il / elle / on | débuterait | he / she / it would beginon: we would begin / one would begin | |
| nous | débuterions | we would begin | |
| vous | débuteriez | you would begin | |
| ils / elles | débuteraient | they would begin |
IN A SENTENCEConditional example
Le spectacle débuterait à vingt heures.
The show would begin at eight p.m..
Present subjunctive Subjonctif présent
Dependent clauses expressing wishes, necessity, doubt, and certain feelings.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | débute | (that) I begin | |
| tu | débutes | (that) you begin | |
| il / elle / on | débute | (that) he / she / it beginson: (that) we begin / one begins | |
| nous | débutions | (that) we begin | |
| vous | débutiez | (that) you begin | |
| ils / elles | débutent | (that) they begin |
IN A SENTENCEPresent subjunctive example
Il est possible que le spectacle débute à vingt heures.
It is possible that the show begins at eight p.m..
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 start
- to debut, to make one's debut
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