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 ask for.”
Present Présent
Habits, current states, and actions happening now.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | demande | I ask for | |
| tu | demandes | you ask for | |
| il / elle / on | demande | he / she / it asks foron: we ask for / one asks for | |
| nous | demandons | we ask for | |
| vous | demandez | you ask for | |
| ils / elles | demandent | they ask for |
IN A SENTENCEPresent example
Paul demande un verre d'eau.
Paul asks for a glass of water.
Passé composé
Completed past events, using avoir or être plus a past participle.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | ai demandé | I asked for | |
| tu | as demandé | you asked for | |
| il / elle / on | a demandé | he / she / it asked foron: we asked for / one asked for | |
| nous | avons demandé | we asked for | |
| vous | avez demandé | you asked for | |
| ils / elles | ont demandé | they asked for |
IN A SENTENCEPassé composé example
Hier, Paul a demandé un verre d'eau.
Yesterday, Paul asked for a glass of water.
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’ | demandais | I used to ask for | |
| tu | demandais | you used to ask for | |
| il / elle / on | demandait | he / she / it used to ask foron: we used to ask for / one used to ask for | |
| nous | demandions | we used to ask for | |
| vous | demandiez | you used to ask for | |
| ils / elles | demandaient | they used to ask for |
IN A SENTENCEImperfect example
Autrefois, Paul demandait un verre d'eau.
Back then, Paul used to ask for a glass of water.
Future Futur simple
Future events and predictions.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | demanderai | I will ask for | |
| tu | demanderas | you will ask for | |
| il / elle / on | demandera | he / she / it will ask foron: we will ask for / one will ask for | |
| nous | demanderons | we will ask for | |
| vous | demanderez | you will ask for | |
| ils / elles | demanderont | they will ask for |
IN A SENTENCEFuture example
Plus tard, Paul demandera un verre d'eau.
Later, Paul will ask for a glass of water.
Conditional Conditionnel présent
Hypothetical events and polite requests.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | demanderais | I would ask for | |
| tu | demanderais | you would ask for | |
| il / elle / on | demanderait | he / she / it would ask foron: we would ask for / one would ask for | |
| nous | demanderions | we would ask for | |
| vous | demanderiez | you would ask for | |
| ils / elles | demanderaient | they would ask for |
IN A SENTENCEConditional example
Paul demanderait un verre d'eau.
Paul would ask for a glass of water.
Present subjunctive Subjonctif présent
Dependent clauses expressing wishes, necessity, doubt, and certain feelings.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | demande | (that) I ask for | |
| tu | demandes | (that) you ask for | |
| il / elle / on | demande | (that) he / she / it asks foron: (that) we ask for / one asks for | |
| nous | demandions | (that) we ask for | |
| vous | demandiez | (that) you ask for | |
| ils / elles | demandent | (that) they ask for |
IN A SENTENCEPresent subjunctive example
Il est possible que Paul demande un verre d'eau.
It is possible that Paul asks for a glass of water.
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 ask
- to request
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