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 detach.”
Present Présent
Habits, current states, and actions happening now.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | détache | I detach | |
| tu | détaches | you detach | |
| il / elle / on | détache | he / she / it detacheson: we detach / one detaches | |
| nous | détachons | we detach | |
| vous | détachez | you detach | |
| ils / elles | détachent | they detach |
IN A SENTENCEPresent example
Paul détache l'étiquette du vêtement.
Paul detaches the label from the garment.
Passé composé
Completed past events, using avoir or être plus a past participle.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | ai détaché | I detached | |
| tu | as détaché | you detached | |
| il / elle / on | a détaché | he / she / it detachedon: we detached / one detached | |
| nous | avons détaché | we detached | |
| vous | avez détaché | you detached | |
| ils / elles | ont détaché | they detached |
IN A SENTENCEPassé composé example
Hier, Paul a détaché l'étiquette du vêtement.
Yesterday, Paul detached the label from the garment.
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’ | détachais | I used to detach | |
| tu | détachais | you used to detach | |
| il / elle / on | détachait | he / she / it used to detachon: we used to detach / one used to detach | |
| nous | détachions | we used to detach | |
| vous | détachiez | you used to detach | |
| ils / elles | détachaient | they used to detach |
IN A SENTENCEImperfect example
Autrefois, Paul détachait l'étiquette du vêtement.
Back then, Paul used to detach the label from the garment.
Future Futur simple
Future events and predictions.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | détacherai | I will detach | |
| tu | détacheras | you will detach | |
| il / elle / on | détachera | he / she / it will detachon: we will detach / one will detach | |
| nous | détacherons | we will detach | |
| vous | détacherez | you will detach | |
| ils / elles | détacheront | they will detach |
IN A SENTENCEFuture example
Plus tard, Paul détachera l'étiquette du vêtement.
Later, Paul will detach the label from the garment.
Conditional Conditionnel présent
Hypothetical events and polite requests.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | détacherais | I would detach | |
| tu | détacherais | you would detach | |
| il / elle / on | détacherait | he / she / it would detachon: we would detach / one would detach | |
| nous | détacherions | we would detach | |
| vous | détacheriez | you would detach | |
| ils / elles | détacheraient | they would detach |
IN A SENTENCEConditional example
Paul détacherait l'étiquette du vêtement.
Paul would detach the label from the garment.
Present subjunctive Subjonctif présent
Dependent clauses expressing wishes, necessity, doubt, and certain feelings.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | détache | (that) I detach | |
| tu | détaches | (that) you detach | |
| il / elle / on | détache | (that) he / she / it detacheson: (that) we detach / one detaches | |
| nous | détachions | (that) we detach | |
| vous | détachiez | (that) you detach | |
| ils / elles | détachent | (that) they detach |
IN A SENTENCEPresent subjunctive example
Il est possible que Paul détache l'étiquette du vêtement.
It is possible that Paul detaches the label from the garment.
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 detach; to remove
- to remove spots, stains
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