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 challenge.”
Present Présent
Habits, current states, and actions happening now.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | défie | I challenge | |
| tu | défies | you challenge | |
| il / elle / on | défie | he / she / it challengeson: we challenge / one challenges | |
| nous | défions | we challenge | |
| vous | défiez | you challenge | |
| ils / elles | défient | they challenge |
IN A SENTENCEPresent example
Paul défie son frère aux échecs.
Paul challenges his brother to a game of chess.
Passé composé
Completed past events, using avoir or être plus a past participle.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | ai défié | I challenged | |
| tu | as défié | you challenged | |
| il / elle / on | a défié | he / she / it challengedon: we challenged / one challenged | |
| nous | avons défié | we challenged | |
| vous | avez défié | you challenged | |
| ils / elles | ont défié | they challenged |
IN A SENTENCEPassé composé example
Hier, Paul a défié son frère aux échecs.
Yesterday, Paul challenged his brother to a game of chess.
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’ | défiais | I used to challenge | |
| tu | défiais | you used to challenge | |
| il / elle / on | défiait | he / she / it used to challengeon: we used to challenge / one used to challenge | |
| nous | défiions | we used to challenge | |
| vous | défiiez | you used to challenge | |
| ils / elles | défiaient | they used to challenge |
IN A SENTENCEImperfect example
Autrefois, Paul défiait son frère aux échecs.
Back then, Paul used to challenge his brother to a game of chess.
Future Futur simple
Future events and predictions.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | défierai | I will challenge | |
| tu | défieras | you will challenge | |
| il / elle / on | défiera | he / she / it will challengeon: we will challenge / one will challenge | |
| nous | défierons | we will challenge | |
| vous | défierez | you will challenge | |
| ils / elles | défieront | they will challenge |
IN A SENTENCEFuture example
Plus tard, Paul défiera son frère aux échecs.
Later, Paul will challenge his brother to a game of chess.
Conditional Conditionnel présent
Hypothetical events and polite requests.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | défierais | I would challenge | |
| tu | défierais | you would challenge | |
| il / elle / on | défierait | he / she / it would challengeon: we would challenge / one would challenge | |
| nous | défierions | we would challenge | |
| vous | défieriez | you would challenge | |
| ils / elles | défieraient | they would challenge |
IN A SENTENCEConditional example
Paul défierait son frère aux échecs.
Paul would challenge his brother to a game of chess.
Present subjunctive Subjonctif présent
Dependent clauses expressing wishes, necessity, doubt, and certain feelings.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | défie | (that) I challenge | |
| tu | défies | (that) you challenge | |
| il / elle / on | défie | (that) he / she / it challengeson: (that) we challenge / one challenges | |
| nous | défiions | (that) we challenge | |
| vous | défiiez | (that) you challenge | |
| ils / elles | défient | (that) they challenge |
IN A SENTENCEPresent subjunctive example
Il est possible que Paul défie son frère aux échecs.
It is possible that Paul challenges his brother to a game of chess.
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 defy, challenge
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