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 live.”
Present Présent
Habits, current states, and actions happening now.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | demeure | I live | |
| tu | demeures | you live | |
| il / elle / on | demeure | he / she / it liveson: we live / one lives | |
| nous | demeurons | we live | |
| vous | demeurez | you live | |
| ils / elles | demeurent | they live |
IN A SENTENCEPresent example
Paul demeure dans une petite maison.
Paul lives in a small house.
Passé composé
Completed past events, using avoir or être plus a past participle.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | ai demeuré | I lived | |
| tu | as demeuré | you lived | |
| il / elle / on | a demeuré | he / she / it livedon: we lived / one lived | |
| nous | avons demeuré | we lived | |
| vous | avez demeuré | you lived | |
| ils / elles | ont demeuré | they lived |
IN A SENTENCEPassé composé example
Hier, Paul a demeuré dans une petite maison.
Yesterday, Paul lived in a small house.
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’ | demeurais | I used to live | |
| tu | demeurais | you used to live | |
| il / elle / on | demeurait | he / she / it used to liveon: we used to live / one used to live | |
| nous | demeurions | we used to live | |
| vous | demeuriez | you used to live | |
| ils / elles | demeuraient | they used to live |
IN A SENTENCEImperfect example
Autrefois, Paul demeurait dans une petite maison.
Back then, Paul used to live in a small house.
Future Futur simple
Future events and predictions.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | demeurerai | I will live | |
| tu | demeureras | you will live | |
| il / elle / on | demeurera | he / she / it will liveon: we will live / one will live | |
| nous | demeurerons | we will live | |
| vous | demeurerez | you will live | |
| ils / elles | demeureront | they will live |
IN A SENTENCEFuture example
Plus tard, Paul demeurera dans une petite maison.
Later, Paul will live in a small house.
Conditional Conditionnel présent
Hypothetical events and polite requests.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | demeurerais | I would live | |
| tu | demeurerais | you would live | |
| il / elle / on | demeurerait | he / she / it would liveon: we would live / one would live | |
| nous | demeurerions | we would live | |
| vous | demeureriez | you would live | |
| ils / elles | demeureraient | they would live |
IN A SENTENCEConditional example
Paul demeurerait dans une petite maison.
Paul would live in a small house.
Present subjunctive Subjonctif présent
Dependent clauses expressing wishes, necessity, doubt, and certain feelings.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | demeure | (that) I live | |
| tu | demeures | (that) you live | |
| il / elle / on | demeure | (that) he / she / it liveson: (that) we live / one lives | |
| nous | demeurions | (that) we live | |
| vous | demeuriez | (that) you live | |
| ils / elles | demeurent | (that) they live |
IN A SENTENCEPresent subjunctive example
Il est possible que Paul demeure dans une petite maison.
It is possible that Paul lives in a small house.
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.”
The example uses demeurer in the sense live at an address, with avoir in the passé composé. The meaning remain may use être.
Meaning & usage
- to live, stay
- to stay, to remain, to stop for a long time
- to last, to persist
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