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 plow.”
Present Présent
Habits, current states, and actions happening now.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | défonce | I plow | |
| tu | défonces | you plow | |
| il / elle / on | défonce | he / she / it plowson: we plow / one plows | |
| nous | défonçons | we plow | |
| vous | défoncez | you plow | |
| ils / elles | défoncent | they plow |
IN A SENTENCEPresent example
Paul défonce le terrain avant la plantation.
Paul plows the ground deeply before planting.
Passé composé
Completed past events, using avoir or être plus a past participle.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | ai défoncé | I plowed | |
| tu | as défoncé | you plowed | |
| il / elle / on | a défoncé | he / she / it plowedon: we plowed / one plowed | |
| nous | avons défoncé | we plowed | |
| vous | avez défoncé | you plowed | |
| ils / elles | ont défoncé | they plowed |
IN A SENTENCEPassé composé example
Hier, Paul a défoncé le terrain avant la plantation.
Yesterday, Paul plowed the ground deeply before planting.
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’ | défonçais | I used to plow | |
| tu | défonçais | you used to plow | |
| il / elle / on | défonçait | he / she / it used to plowon: we used to plow / one used to plow | |
| nous | défoncions | we used to plow | |
| vous | défonciez | you used to plow | |
| ils / elles | défonçaient | they used to plow |
IN A SENTENCEImperfect example
Autrefois, Paul défonçait le terrain avant la plantation.
Back then, Paul used to plow the ground deeply before planting.
Future Futur simple
Future events and predictions.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | défoncerai | I will plow | |
| tu | défonceras | you will plow | |
| il / elle / on | défoncera | he / she / it will plowon: we will plow / one will plow | |
| nous | défoncerons | we will plow | |
| vous | défoncerez | you will plow | |
| ils / elles | défonceront | they will plow |
IN A SENTENCEFuture example
Plus tard, Paul défoncera le terrain avant la plantation.
Later, Paul will plow the ground deeply before planting.
Conditional Conditionnel présent
Hypothetical events and polite requests.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | défoncerais | I would plow | |
| tu | défoncerais | you would plow | |
| il / elle / on | défoncerait | he / she / it would plowon: we would plow / one would plow | |
| nous | défoncerions | we would plow | |
| vous | défonceriez | you would plow | |
| ils / elles | défonceraient | they would plow |
IN A SENTENCEConditional example
Paul défoncerait le terrain avant la plantation.
Paul would plow the ground deeply before planting.
Present subjunctive Subjonctif présent
Dependent clauses expressing wishes, necessity, doubt, and certain feelings.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | défonce | (that) I plow | |
| tu | défonces | (that) you plow | |
| il / elle / on | défonce | (that) he / she / it plowson: (that) we plow / one plows | |
| nous | défoncions | (that) we plow | |
| vous | défonciez | (that) you plow | |
| ils / elles | défoncent | (that) they plow |
IN A SENTENCEPresent subjunctive example
Il est possible que Paul défonce le terrain avant la plantation.
It is possible that Paul plows the ground deeply before planting.
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.”
This example uses the agricultural meaning plow deeply. Other colloquial meanings are not illustrated.
Meaning & usage
- to deep-plough
- to smash in, smash up, break, break open (destroy violently)
- to rip, rip apart, tear apart
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