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 trigger.”
Present Présent
Habits, current states, and actions happening now.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | déclenche | I trigger | |
| tu | déclenches | you trigger | |
| il / elle / on | déclenche | he / she / it triggerson: we trigger / one triggers | |
| nous | déclenchons | we trigger | |
| vous | déclenchez | you trigger | |
| ils / elles | déclenchent | they trigger |
IN A SENTENCEPresent example
La fumée déclenche l'alarme du bâtiment.
The smoke triggers the building's alarm.
Passé composé
Completed past events, using avoir or être plus a past participle.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | ai déclenché | I triggered | |
| tu | as déclenché | you triggered | |
| il / elle / on | a déclenché | he / she / it triggeredon: we triggered / one triggered | |
| nous | avons déclenché | we triggered | |
| vous | avez déclenché | you triggered | |
| ils / elles | ont déclenché | they triggered |
IN A SENTENCEPassé composé example
Hier, la fumée a déclenché l'alarme du bâtiment.
Yesterday, the smoke triggered the building's alarm.
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’ | déclenchais | I used to trigger | |
| tu | déclenchais | you used to trigger | |
| il / elle / on | déclenchait | he / she / it used to triggeron: we used to trigger / one used to trigger | |
| nous | déclenchions | we used to trigger | |
| vous | déclenchiez | you used to trigger | |
| ils / elles | déclenchaient | they used to trigger |
IN A SENTENCEImperfect example
Autrefois, la fumée déclenchait l'alarme du bâtiment.
Back then, the smoke used to trigger the building's alarm.
Future Futur simple
Future events and predictions.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | déclencherai | I will trigger | |
| tu | déclencheras | you will trigger | |
| il / elle / on | déclenchera | he / she / it will triggeron: we will trigger / one will trigger | |
| nous | déclencherons | we will trigger | |
| vous | déclencherez | you will trigger | |
| ils / elles | déclencheront | they will trigger |
IN A SENTENCEFuture example
Plus tard, la fumée déclenchera l'alarme du bâtiment.
Later, the smoke will trigger the building's alarm.
Conditional Conditionnel présent
Hypothetical events and polite requests.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | déclencherais | I would trigger | |
| tu | déclencherais | you would trigger | |
| il / elle / on | déclencherait | he / she / it would triggeron: we would trigger / one would trigger | |
| nous | déclencherions | we would trigger | |
| vous | déclencheriez | you would trigger | |
| ils / elles | déclencheraient | they would trigger |
IN A SENTENCEConditional example
La fumée déclencherait l'alarme du bâtiment.
The smoke would trigger the building's alarm.
Present subjunctive Subjonctif présent
Dependent clauses expressing wishes, necessity, doubt, and certain feelings.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | déclenche | (that) I trigger | |
| tu | déclenches | (that) you trigger | |
| il / elle / on | déclenche | (that) he / she / it triggerson: (that) we trigger / one triggers | |
| nous | déclenchions | (that) we trigger | |
| vous | déclenchiez | (that) you trigger | |
| ils / elles | déclenchent | (that) they trigger |
IN A SENTENCEPresent subjunctive example
Il est possible que la fumée déclenche l'alarme du bâtiment.
It is possible that the smoke triggers the building's alarm.
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 trigger, to spark, to set off
- to set off (a device)
- to take off the latch
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