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 demolish.”
Present Présent
Habits, current states, and actions happening now.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | démolis | I demolish | |
| tu | démolis | you demolish | |
| il / elle / on | démolit | he / she / it demolisheson: we demolish / one demolishes | |
| nous | démolissons | we demolish | |
| vous | démolissez | you demolish | |
| ils / elles | démolissent | they demolish |
IN A SENTENCEPresent example
Paul démolit le vieux mur du jardin.
Paul demolishes the old garden wall.
Passé composé
Completed past events, using avoir or être plus a past participle.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | ai démoli | I demolished | |
| tu | as démoli | you demolished | |
| il / elle / on | a démoli | he / she / it demolishedon: we demolished / one demolished | |
| nous | avons démoli | we demolished | |
| vous | avez démoli | you demolished | |
| ils / elles | ont démoli | they demolished |
IN A SENTENCEPassé composé example
Hier, Paul a démoli le vieux mur du jardin.
Yesterday, Paul demolished the old garden wall.
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’ | démolissais | I used to demolish | |
| tu | démolissais | you used to demolish | |
| il / elle / on | démolissait | he / she / it used to demolishon: we used to demolish / one used to demolish | |
| nous | démolissions | we used to demolish | |
| vous | démolissiez | you used to demolish | |
| ils / elles | démolissaient | they used to demolish |
IN A SENTENCEImperfect example
Autrefois, Paul démolissait le vieux mur du jardin.
Back then, Paul used to demolish the old garden wall.
Future Futur simple
Future events and predictions.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | démolirai | I will demolish | |
| tu | démoliras | you will demolish | |
| il / elle / on | démolira | he / she / it will demolishon: we will demolish / one will demolish | |
| nous | démolirons | we will demolish | |
| vous | démolirez | you will demolish | |
| ils / elles | démoliront | they will demolish |
IN A SENTENCEFuture example
Plus tard, Paul démolira le vieux mur du jardin.
Later, Paul will demolish the old garden wall.
Conditional Conditionnel présent
Hypothetical events and polite requests.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | démolirais | I would demolish | |
| tu | démolirais | you would demolish | |
| il / elle / on | démolirait | he / she / it would demolishon: we would demolish / one would demolish | |
| nous | démolirions | we would demolish | |
| vous | démoliriez | you would demolish | |
| ils / elles | démoliraient | they would demolish |
IN A SENTENCEConditional example
Paul démolirait le vieux mur du jardin.
Paul would demolish the old garden wall.
Present subjunctive Subjonctif présent
Dependent clauses expressing wishes, necessity, doubt, and certain feelings.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | démolisse | (that) I demolish | |
| tu | démolisses | (that) you demolish | |
| il / elle / on | démolisse | (that) he / she / it demolisheson: (that) we demolish / one demolishes | |
| nous | démolissions | (that) we demolish | |
| vous | démolissiez | (that) you demolish | |
| ils / elles | démolissent | (that) they demolish |
IN A SENTENCEPresent subjunctive example
Il est possible que Paul démolisse le vieux mur du jardin.
It is possible that Paul demolishes the old garden wall.
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 demolish
- to wreck, to ruin
- to shellac
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