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 start.”
Present Présent
Habits, current states, and actions happening now.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | démarre | I start | |
| tu | démarres | you start | |
| il / elle / on | démarre | he / she / it startson: we start / one starts | |
| nous | démarrons | we start | |
| vous | démarrez | you start | |
| ils / elles | démarrent | they start |
IN A SENTENCEPresent example
Paul démarre le moteur du bateau.
Paul starts the boat's engine.
Passé composé
Completed past events, using avoir or être plus a past participle.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | ai démarré | I started | |
| tu | as démarré | you started | |
| il / elle / on | a démarré | he / she / it startedon: we started / one started | |
| nous | avons démarré | we started | |
| vous | avez démarré | you started | |
| ils / elles | ont démarré | they started |
IN A SENTENCEPassé composé example
Hier, Paul a démarré le moteur du bateau.
Yesterday, Paul started the boat's engine.
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’ | démarrais | I used to start | |
| tu | démarrais | you used to start | |
| il / elle / on | démarrait | he / she / it used to starton: we used to start / one used to start | |
| nous | démarrions | we used to start | |
| vous | démarriez | you used to start | |
| ils / elles | démarraient | they used to start |
IN A SENTENCEImperfect example
Autrefois, Paul démarrait le moteur du bateau.
Back then, Paul used to start the boat's engine.
Future Futur simple
Future events and predictions.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | démarrerai | I will start | |
| tu | démarreras | you will start | |
| il / elle / on | démarrera | he / she / it will starton: we will start / one will start | |
| nous | démarrerons | we will start | |
| vous | démarrerez | you will start | |
| ils / elles | démarreront | they will start |
IN A SENTENCEFuture example
Plus tard, Paul démarrera le moteur du bateau.
Later, Paul will start the boat's engine.
Conditional Conditionnel présent
Hypothetical events and polite requests.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | démarrerais | I would start | |
| tu | démarrerais | you would start | |
| il / elle / on | démarrerait | he / she / it would starton: we would start / one would start | |
| nous | démarrerions | we would start | |
| vous | démarreriez | you would start | |
| ils / elles | démarreraient | they would start |
IN A SENTENCEConditional example
Paul démarrerait le moteur du bateau.
Paul would start the boat's engine.
Present subjunctive Subjonctif présent
Dependent clauses expressing wishes, necessity, doubt, and certain feelings.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | démarre | (that) I start | |
| tu | démarres | (that) you start | |
| il / elle / on | démarre | (that) he / she / it startson: (that) we start / one starts | |
| nous | démarrions | (that) we start | |
| vous | démarriez | (that) you start | |
| ils / elles | démarrent | (that) they start |
IN A SENTENCEPresent subjunctive example
Il est possible que Paul démarre le moteur du bateau.
It is possible that Paul starts the boat's engine.
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 start, to get started, to start up (especially a vehicle)
- to start up, to turn on (a computer)
- to start, to get started, to start up
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