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 joke around.”
Present Présent
Habits, current states, and actions happening now.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | déconne | I joke around | |
| tu | déconnes | you joke around | |
| il / elle / on | déconne | he / she / it jokes aroundon: we joke around / one jokes around | |
| nous | déconnons | we joke around | |
| vous | déconnez | you joke around | |
| ils / elles | déconnent | they joke around |
IN A SENTENCEPresent example
Paul déconne avec ses collègues.
Paul jokes around with his colleagues.
Passé composé
Completed past events, using avoir or être plus a past participle.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | ai déconné | I joked around | |
| tu | as déconné | you joked around | |
| il / elle / on | a déconné | he / she / it joked aroundon: we joked around / one joked around | |
| nous | avons déconné | we joked around | |
| vous | avez déconné | you joked around | |
| ils / elles | ont déconné | they joked around |
IN A SENTENCEPassé composé example
Hier, Paul a déconné avec ses collègues.
Yesterday, Paul joked around with his colleagues.
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’ | déconnais | I used to joke around | |
| tu | déconnais | you used to joke around | |
| il / elle / on | déconnait | he / she / it used to joke aroundon: we used to joke around / one used to joke around | |
| nous | déconnions | we used to joke around | |
| vous | déconniez | you used to joke around | |
| ils / elles | déconnaient | they used to joke around |
IN A SENTENCEImperfect example
Autrefois, Paul déconnait avec ses collègues.
Back then, Paul used to joke around with his colleagues.
Future Futur simple
Future events and predictions.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | déconnerai | I will joke around | |
| tu | déconneras | you will joke around | |
| il / elle / on | déconnera | he / she / it will joke aroundon: we will joke around / one will joke around | |
| nous | déconnerons | we will joke around | |
| vous | déconnerez | you will joke around | |
| ils / elles | déconneront | they will joke around |
IN A SENTENCEFuture example
Plus tard, Paul déconnera avec ses collègues.
Later, Paul will joke around with his colleagues.
Conditional Conditionnel présent
Hypothetical events and polite requests.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | déconnerais | I would joke around | |
| tu | déconnerais | you would joke around | |
| il / elle / on | déconnerait | he / she / it would joke aroundon: we would joke around / one would joke around | |
| nous | déconnerions | we would joke around | |
| vous | déconneriez | you would joke around | |
| ils / elles | déconneraient | they would joke around |
IN A SENTENCEConditional example
Paul déconnerait avec ses collègues.
Paul would joke around with his colleagues.
Present subjunctive Subjonctif présent
Dependent clauses expressing wishes, necessity, doubt, and certain feelings.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | déconne | (that) I joke around | |
| tu | déconnes | (that) you joke around | |
| il / elle / on | déconne | (that) he / she / it jokes aroundon: (that) we joke around / one jokes around | |
| nous | déconnions | (that) we joke around | |
| vous | déconniez | (that) you joke around | |
| ils / elles | déconnent | (that) they joke around |
IN A SENTENCEPresent subjunctive example
Il est possible que Paul déconne avec ses collègues.
It is possible that Paul jokes around with his colleagues.
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.”
Déconner is very informal. The example means joke around, rather than malfunction.
Meaning & usage
- to talk rubbish, talk bollocks, kid, joke
- to mess up, act up, malfunction
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