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 exceed.”
Present Présent
Habits, current states, and actions happening now.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | dépasse | I exceed | |
| tu | dépasses | you exceed | |
| il / elle / on | dépasse | he / she / it exceedson: we exceed / one exceeds | |
| nous | dépassons | we exceed | |
| vous | dépassez | you exceed | |
| ils / elles | dépassent | they exceed |
IN A SENTENCEPresent example
Paul dépasse la limite autorisée.
Paul exceeds the permitted limit.
Passé composé
Completed past events, using avoir or être plus a past participle.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | ai dépassé | I exceeded | |
| tu | as dépassé | you exceeded | |
| il / elle / on | a dépassé | he / she / it exceededon: we exceeded / one exceeded | |
| nous | avons dépassé | we exceeded | |
| vous | avez dépassé | you exceeded | |
| ils / elles | ont dépassé | they exceeded |
IN A SENTENCEPassé composé example
Hier, Paul a dépassé la limite autorisée.
Yesterday, Paul exceeded the permitted limit.
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’ | dépassais | I used to exceed | |
| tu | dépassais | you used to exceed | |
| il / elle / on | dépassait | he / she / it used to exceedon: we used to exceed / one used to exceed | |
| nous | dépassions | we used to exceed | |
| vous | dépassiez | you used to exceed | |
| ils / elles | dépassaient | they used to exceed |
IN A SENTENCEImperfect example
Autrefois, Paul dépassait la limite autorisée.
Back then, Paul used to exceed the permitted limit.
Future Futur simple
Future events and predictions.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | dépasserai | I will exceed | |
| tu | dépasseras | you will exceed | |
| il / elle / on | dépassera | he / she / it will exceedon: we will exceed / one will exceed | |
| nous | dépasserons | we will exceed | |
| vous | dépasserez | you will exceed | |
| ils / elles | dépasseront | they will exceed |
IN A SENTENCEFuture example
Plus tard, Paul dépassera la limite autorisée.
Later, Paul will exceed the permitted limit.
Conditional Conditionnel présent
Hypothetical events and polite requests.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | dépasserais | I would exceed | |
| tu | dépasserais | you would exceed | |
| il / elle / on | dépasserait | he / she / it would exceedon: we would exceed / one would exceed | |
| nous | dépasserions | we would exceed | |
| vous | dépasseriez | you would exceed | |
| ils / elles | dépasseraient | they would exceed |
IN A SENTENCEConditional example
Paul dépasserait la limite autorisée.
Paul would exceed the permitted limit.
Present subjunctive Subjonctif présent
Dependent clauses expressing wishes, necessity, doubt, and certain feelings.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | dépasse | (that) I exceed | |
| tu | dépasses | (that) you exceed | |
| il / elle / on | dépasse | (that) he / she / it exceedson: (that) we exceed / one exceeds | |
| nous | dépassions | (that) we exceed | |
| vous | dépassiez | (that) you exceed | |
| ils / elles | dépassent | (that) they exceed |
IN A SENTENCEPresent subjunctive example
Il est possible que Paul dépasse la limite autorisée.
It is possible that Paul exceeds the permitted limit.
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 exceed
- to overtake, to go past
- to surpass
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