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 defend.”
Present Présent
Habits, current states, and actions happening now.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | défends | I defend | |
| tu | défends | you defend | |
| il / elle / on | défend | he / she / it defendson: we defend / one defends | |
| nous | défendons | we defend | |
| vous | défendez | you defend | |
| ils / elles | défendent | they defend |
IN A SENTENCEPresent example
Paul défend son point de vue.
Paul defends his point of view.
Passé composé
Completed past events, using avoir or être plus a past participle.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | ai défendu | I defended | |
| tu | as défendu | you defended | |
| il / elle / on | a défendu | he / she / it defendedon: we defended / one defended | |
| nous | avons défendu | we defended | |
| vous | avez défendu | you defended | |
| ils / elles | ont défendu | they defended |
IN A SENTENCEPassé composé example
Hier, Paul a défendu son point de vue.
Yesterday, Paul defended his point of view.
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’ | défendais | I used to defend | |
| tu | défendais | you used to defend | |
| il / elle / on | défendait | he / she / it used to defendon: we used to defend / one used to defend | |
| nous | défendions | we used to defend | |
| vous | défendiez | you used to defend | |
| ils / elles | défendaient | they used to defend |
IN A SENTENCEImperfect example
Autrefois, Paul défendait son point de vue.
Back then, Paul used to defend his point of view.
Future Futur simple
Future events and predictions.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | défendrai | I will defend | |
| tu | défendras | you will defend | |
| il / elle / on | défendra | he / she / it will defendon: we will defend / one will defend | |
| nous | défendrons | we will defend | |
| vous | défendrez | you will defend | |
| ils / elles | défendront | they will defend |
IN A SENTENCEFuture example
Plus tard, Paul défendra son point de vue.
Later, Paul will defend his point of view.
Conditional Conditionnel présent
Hypothetical events and polite requests.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | défendrais | I would defend | |
| tu | défendrais | you would defend | |
| il / elle / on | défendrait | he / she / it would defendon: we would defend / one would defend | |
| nous | défendrions | we would defend | |
| vous | défendriez | you would defend | |
| ils / elles | défendraient | they would defend |
IN A SENTENCEConditional example
Paul défendrait son point de vue.
Paul would defend his point of view.
Present subjunctive Subjonctif présent
Dependent clauses expressing wishes, necessity, doubt, and certain feelings.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | défende | (that) I defend | |
| tu | défendes | (that) you defend | |
| il / elle / on | défende | (that) he / she / it defendson: (that) we defend / one defends | |
| nous | défendions | (that) we defend | |
| vous | défendiez | (that) you defend | |
| ils / elles | défendent | (that) they defend |
IN A SENTENCEPresent subjunctive example
Il est possible que Paul défende son point de vue.
It is possible that Paul defends his point of view.
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 defend
- to forbid
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