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 free.”
Present Présent
Habits, current states, and actions happening now.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | délivre | I free | |
| tu | délivres | you free | |
| il / elle / on | délivre | he / she / it freeson: we free / one frees | |
| nous | délivrons | we free | |
| vous | délivrez | you free | |
| ils / elles | délivrent | they free |
IN A SENTENCEPresent example
Paul délivre l'oiseau pris au piège.
Paul frees the trapped bird.
Passé composé
Completed past events, using avoir or être plus a past participle.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | ai délivré | I freed | |
| tu | as délivré | you freed | |
| il / elle / on | a délivré | he / she / it freedon: we freed / one freed | |
| nous | avons délivré | we freed | |
| vous | avez délivré | you freed | |
| ils / elles | ont délivré | they freed |
IN A SENTENCEPassé composé example
Hier, Paul a délivré l'oiseau pris au piège.
Yesterday, Paul freed the trapped bird.
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’ | délivrais | I used to free | |
| tu | délivrais | you used to free | |
| il / elle / on | délivrait | he / she / it used to freeon: we used to free / one used to free | |
| nous | délivrions | we used to free | |
| vous | délivriez | you used to free | |
| ils / elles | délivraient | they used to free |
IN A SENTENCEImperfect example
Autrefois, Paul délivrait l'oiseau pris au piège.
Back then, Paul used to free the trapped bird.
Future Futur simple
Future events and predictions.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | délivrerai | I will free | |
| tu | délivreras | you will free | |
| il / elle / on | délivrera | he / she / it will freeon: we will free / one will free | |
| nous | délivrerons | we will free | |
| vous | délivrerez | you will free | |
| ils / elles | délivreront | they will free |
IN A SENTENCEFuture example
Plus tard, Paul délivrera l'oiseau pris au piège.
Later, Paul will free the trapped bird.
Conditional Conditionnel présent
Hypothetical events and polite requests.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | délivrerais | I would free | |
| tu | délivrerais | you would free | |
| il / elle / on | délivrerait | he / she / it would freeon: we would free / one would free | |
| nous | délivrerions | we would free | |
| vous | délivreriez | you would free | |
| ils / elles | délivreraient | they would free |
IN A SENTENCEConditional example
Paul délivrerait l'oiseau pris au piège.
Paul would free the trapped bird.
Present subjunctive Subjonctif présent
Dependent clauses expressing wishes, necessity, doubt, and certain feelings.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | délivre | (that) I free | |
| tu | délivres | (that) you free | |
| il / elle / on | délivre | (that) he / she / it freeson: (that) we free / one frees | |
| nous | délivrions | (that) we free | |
| vous | délivriez | (that) you free | |
| ils / elles | délivrent | (that) they free |
IN A SENTENCEPresent subjunctive example
Il est possible que Paul délivre l'oiseau pris au piège.
It is possible that Paul frees the trapped bird.
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 set free
- to deliver (a message)
- to deliver a child
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