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 undo.”
Present Présent
Habits, current states, and actions happening now.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | défais | I undo | |
| tu | défais | you undo | |
| il / elle / on | défait | he / she / it undoeson: we undo / one undoes | |
| nous | défaisons | we undo | |
| vous | défaites | you undo | |
| ils / elles | défont | they undo |
IN A SENTENCEPresent example
Paul défait le nœud de la corde.
Paul undoes the knot in the rope.
Passé composé
Completed past events, using avoir or être plus a past participle.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | ai défait | I undid | |
| tu | as défait | you undid | |
| il / elle / on | a défait | he / she / it undidon: we undid / one undid | |
| nous | avons défait | we undid | |
| vous | avez défait | you undid | |
| ils / elles | ont défait | they undid |
IN A SENTENCEPassé composé example
Hier, Paul a défait le nœud de la corde.
Yesterday, Paul undid the knot in the rope.
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’ | défaisais | I used to undo | |
| tu | défaisais | you used to undo | |
| il / elle / on | défaisait | he / she / it used to undoon: we used to undo / one used to undo | |
| nous | défaisions | we used to undo | |
| vous | défaisiez | you used to undo | |
| ils / elles | défaisaient | they used to undo |
IN A SENTENCEImperfect example
Autrefois, Paul défaisait le nœud de la corde.
Back then, Paul used to undo the knot in the rope.
Future Futur simple
Future events and predictions.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | déferai | I will undo | |
| tu | déferas | you will undo | |
| il / elle / on | défera | he / she / it will undoon: we will undo / one will undo | |
| nous | déferons | we will undo | |
| vous | déferez | you will undo | |
| ils / elles | déferont | they will undo |
IN A SENTENCEFuture example
Plus tard, Paul défera le nœud de la corde.
Later, Paul will undo the knot in the rope.
Conditional Conditionnel présent
Hypothetical events and polite requests.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | déferais | I would undo | |
| tu | déferais | you would undo | |
| il / elle / on | déferait | he / she / it would undoon: we would undo / one would undo | |
| nous | déferions | we would undo | |
| vous | déferiez | you would undo | |
| ils / elles | déferaient | they would undo |
IN A SENTENCEConditional example
Paul déferait le nœud de la corde.
Paul would undo the knot in the rope.
Present subjunctive Subjonctif présent
Dependent clauses expressing wishes, necessity, doubt, and certain feelings.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | défasse | (that) I undo | |
| tu | défasses | (that) you undo | |
| il / elle / on | défasse | (that) he / she / it undoeson: (that) we undo / one undoes | |
| nous | défassions | (that) we undo | |
| vous | défassiez | (that) you undo | |
| ils / elles | défassent | (that) they undo |
IN A SENTENCEPresent subjunctive example
Il est possible que Paul défasse le nœud de la corde.
It is possible that Paul undoes the knot in the rope.
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 take down, take apart, dismantle, unpack (luggage)
- to undo, unfasten, unwind
- to break, break up, unmake
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