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 define.”
Present Présent
Habits, current states, and actions happening now.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | définis | I define | |
| tu | définis | you define | |
| il / elle / on | définit | he / she / it defineson: we define / one defines | |
| nous | définissons | we define | |
| vous | définissez | you define | |
| ils / elles | définissent | they define |
IN A SENTENCEPresent example
Paul définit les objectifs du projet.
Paul defines the goals of the project.
Passé composé
Completed past events, using avoir or être plus a past participle.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | ai défini | I defined | |
| tu | as défini | you defined | |
| il / elle / on | a défini | he / she / it definedon: we defined / one defined | |
| nous | avons défini | we defined | |
| vous | avez défini | you defined | |
| ils / elles | ont défini | they defined |
IN A SENTENCEPassé composé example
Hier, Paul a défini les objectifs du projet.
Yesterday, Paul defined the goals of the project.
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’ | définissais | I used to define | |
| tu | définissais | you used to define | |
| il / elle / on | définissait | he / she / it used to defineon: we used to define / one used to define | |
| nous | définissions | we used to define | |
| vous | définissiez | you used to define | |
| ils / elles | définissaient | they used to define |
IN A SENTENCEImperfect example
Autrefois, Paul définissait les objectifs du projet.
Back then, Paul used to define the goals of the project.
Future Futur simple
Future events and predictions.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | définirai | I will define | |
| tu | définiras | you will define | |
| il / elle / on | définira | he / she / it will defineon: we will define / one will define | |
| nous | définirons | we will define | |
| vous | définirez | you will define | |
| ils / elles | définiront | they will define |
IN A SENTENCEFuture example
Plus tard, Paul définira les objectifs du projet.
Later, Paul will define the goals of the project.
Conditional Conditionnel présent
Hypothetical events and polite requests.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | définirais | I would define | |
| tu | définirais | you would define | |
| il / elle / on | définirait | he / she / it would defineon: we would define / one would define | |
| nous | définirions | we would define | |
| vous | définiriez | you would define | |
| ils / elles | définiraient | they would define |
IN A SENTENCEConditional example
Paul définirait les objectifs du projet.
Paul would define the goals of the project.
Present subjunctive Subjonctif présent
Dependent clauses expressing wishes, necessity, doubt, and certain feelings.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | définisse | (that) I define | |
| tu | définisses | (that) you define | |
| il / elle / on | définisse | (that) he / she / it defineson: (that) we define / one defines | |
| nous | définissions | (that) we define | |
| vous | définissiez | (that) you define | |
| ils / elles | définissent | (that) they define |
IN A SENTENCEPresent subjunctive example
Il est possible que Paul définisse les objectifs du projet.
It is possible that Paul defines the goals of the project.
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 define
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