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 spend.”
Present Présent
Habits, current states, and actions happening now.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | dépense | I spend | |
| tu | dépenses | you spend | |
| il / elle / on | dépense | he / she / it spendson: we spend / one spends | |
| nous | dépensons | we spend | |
| vous | dépensez | you spend | |
| ils / elles | dépensent | they spend |
IN A SENTENCEPresent example
Paul dépense vingt euros au marché.
Paul spends twenty euros at the market.
Passé composé
Completed past events, using avoir or être plus a past participle.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | ai dépensé | I spent | |
| tu | as dépensé | you spent | |
| il / elle / on | a dépensé | he / she / it spenton: we spent / one spent | |
| nous | avons dépensé | we spent | |
| vous | avez dépensé | you spent | |
| ils / elles | ont dépensé | they spent |
IN A SENTENCEPassé composé example
Hier, Paul a dépensé vingt euros au marché.
Yesterday, Paul spent twenty euros at the market.
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’ | dépensais | I used to spend | |
| tu | dépensais | you used to spend | |
| il / elle / on | dépensait | he / she / it used to spendon: we used to spend / one used to spend | |
| nous | dépensions | we used to spend | |
| vous | dépensiez | you used to spend | |
| ils / elles | dépensaient | they used to spend |
IN A SENTENCEImperfect example
Autrefois, Paul dépensait vingt euros au marché.
Back then, Paul used to spend twenty euros at the market.
Future Futur simple
Future events and predictions.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | dépenserai | I will spend | |
| tu | dépenseras | you will spend | |
| il / elle / on | dépensera | he / she / it will spendon: we will spend / one will spend | |
| nous | dépenserons | we will spend | |
| vous | dépenserez | you will spend | |
| ils / elles | dépenseront | they will spend |
IN A SENTENCEFuture example
Plus tard, Paul dépensera vingt euros au marché.
Later, Paul will spend twenty euros at the market.
Conditional Conditionnel présent
Hypothetical events and polite requests.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | dépenserais | I would spend | |
| tu | dépenserais | you would spend | |
| il / elle / on | dépenserait | he / she / it would spendon: we would spend / one would spend | |
| nous | dépenserions | we would spend | |
| vous | dépenseriez | you would spend | |
| ils / elles | dépenseraient | they would spend |
IN A SENTENCEConditional example
Paul dépenserait vingt euros au marché.
Paul would spend twenty euros at the market.
Present subjunctive Subjonctif présent
Dependent clauses expressing wishes, necessity, doubt, and certain feelings.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | dépense | (that) I spend | |
| tu | dépenses | (that) you spend | |
| il / elle / on | dépense | (that) he / she / it spendson: (that) we spend / one spends | |
| nous | dépensions | (that) we spend | |
| vous | dépensiez | (that) you spend | |
| ils / elles | dépensent | (that) they spend |
IN A SENTENCEPresent subjunctive example
Il est possible que Paul dépense vingt euros au marché.
It is possible that Paul spends twenty euros at the market.
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 spend (money)
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