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 tear.”
Present Présent
Habits, current states, and actions happening now.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | déchire | I tear | |
| tu | déchires | you tear | |
| il / elle / on | déchire | he / she / it tearson: we tear / one tears | |
| nous | déchirons | we tear | |
| vous | déchirez | you tear | |
| ils / elles | déchirent | they tear |
IN A SENTENCEPresent example
Paul déchire la feuille en deux.
Paul tears the sheet of paper in half.
Passé composé
Completed past events, using avoir or être plus a past participle.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | ai déchiré | I tore | |
| tu | as déchiré | you tore | |
| il / elle / on | a déchiré | he / she / it toreon: we tore / one tore | |
| nous | avons déchiré | we tore | |
| vous | avez déchiré | you tore | |
| ils / elles | ont déchiré | they tore |
IN A SENTENCEPassé composé example
Hier, Paul a déchiré la feuille en deux.
Yesterday, Paul tore the sheet of paper in half.
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’ | déchirais | I used to tear | |
| tu | déchirais | you used to tear | |
| il / elle / on | déchirait | he / she / it used to tearon: we used to tear / one used to tear | |
| nous | déchirions | we used to tear | |
| vous | déchiriez | you used to tear | |
| ils / elles | déchiraient | they used to tear |
IN A SENTENCEImperfect example
Autrefois, Paul déchirait la feuille en deux.
Back then, Paul used to tear the sheet of paper in half.
Future Futur simple
Future events and predictions.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | déchirerai | I will tear | |
| tu | déchireras | you will tear | |
| il / elle / on | déchirera | he / she / it will tearon: we will tear / one will tear | |
| nous | déchirerons | we will tear | |
| vous | déchirerez | you will tear | |
| ils / elles | déchireront | they will tear |
IN A SENTENCEFuture example
Plus tard, Paul déchirera la feuille en deux.
Later, Paul will tear the sheet of paper in half.
Conditional Conditionnel présent
Hypothetical events and polite requests.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | déchirerais | I would tear | |
| tu | déchirerais | you would tear | |
| il / elle / on | déchirerait | he / she / it would tearon: we would tear / one would tear | |
| nous | déchirerions | we would tear | |
| vous | déchireriez | you would tear | |
| ils / elles | déchireraient | they would tear |
IN A SENTENCEConditional example
Paul déchirerait la feuille en deux.
Paul would tear the sheet of paper in half.
Present subjunctive Subjonctif présent
Dependent clauses expressing wishes, necessity, doubt, and certain feelings.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | déchire | (that) I tear | |
| tu | déchires | (that) you tear | |
| il / elle / on | déchire | (that) he / she / it tearson: (that) we tear / one tears | |
| nous | déchirions | (that) we tear | |
| vous | déchiriez | (that) you tear | |
| ils / elles | déchirent | (that) they tear |
IN A SENTENCEPresent subjunctive example
Il est possible que Paul déchire la feuille en deux.
It is possible that Paul tears the sheet of paper in half.
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 tear; to rip up
- to tear up emotionally
- to kick arse, to kick ass, to kick butt, to rock, to rule
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