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 decide.”
Present Présent
Habits, current states, and actions happening now.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | décide | I decide | |
| tu | décides | you decide | |
| il / elle / on | décide | he / she / it decideson: we decide / one decides | |
| nous | décidons | we decide | |
| vous | décidez | you decide | |
| ils / elles | décident | they decide |
IN A SENTENCEPresent example
Paul décide de prendre le train.
Paul decides to take the train.
Passé composé
Completed past events, using avoir or être plus a past participle.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | ai décidé | I decided | |
| tu | as décidé | you decided | |
| il / elle / on | a décidé | he / she / it decidedon: we decided / one decided | |
| nous | avons décidé | we decided | |
| vous | avez décidé | you decided | |
| ils / elles | ont décidé | they decided |
IN A SENTENCEPassé composé example
Hier, Paul a décidé de prendre le train.
Yesterday, Paul decided to take the train.
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’ | décidais | I used to decide | |
| tu | décidais | you used to decide | |
| il / elle / on | décidait | he / she / it used to decideon: we used to decide / one used to decide | |
| nous | décidions | we used to decide | |
| vous | décidiez | you used to decide | |
| ils / elles | décidaient | they used to decide |
IN A SENTENCEImperfect example
Autrefois, Paul décidait de prendre le train.
Back then, Paul used to decide to take the train.
Future Futur simple
Future events and predictions.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | déciderai | I will decide | |
| tu | décideras | you will decide | |
| il / elle / on | décidera | he / she / it will decideon: we will decide / one will decide | |
| nous | déciderons | we will decide | |
| vous | déciderez | you will decide | |
| ils / elles | décideront | they will decide |
IN A SENTENCEFuture example
Plus tard, Paul décidera de prendre le train.
Later, Paul will decide to take the train.
Conditional Conditionnel présent
Hypothetical events and polite requests.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | déciderais | I would decide | |
| tu | déciderais | you would decide | |
| il / elle / on | déciderait | he / she / it would decideon: we would decide / one would decide | |
| nous | déciderions | we would decide | |
| vous | décideriez | you would decide | |
| ils / elles | décideraient | they would decide |
IN A SENTENCEConditional example
Paul déciderait de prendre le train.
Paul would decide to take the train.
Present subjunctive Subjonctif présent
Dependent clauses expressing wishes, necessity, doubt, and certain feelings.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | décide | (that) I decide | |
| tu | décides | (that) you decide | |
| il / elle / on | décide | (that) he / she / it decideson: (that) we decide / one decides | |
| nous | décidions | (that) we decide | |
| vous | décidiez | (that) you decide | |
| ils / elles | décident | (that) they decide |
IN A SENTENCEPresent subjunctive example
Il est possible que Paul décide de prendre le train.
It is possible that Paul decides to take the train.
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 decide
- to persuade, convince (someone)
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