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 relax.”
Present Présent
Habits, current states, and actions happening now.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | détends | I relax | |
| tu | détends | you relax | |
| il / elle / on | détend | he / she / it relaxeson: we relax / one relaxes | |
| nous | détendons | we relax | |
| vous | détendez | you relax | |
| ils / elles | détendent | they relax |
IN A SENTENCEPresent example
Ce massage détend les muscles de Paul.
This massage relaxes Paul's muscles.
Passé composé
Completed past events, using avoir or être plus a past participle.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | ai détendu | I relaxed | |
| tu | as détendu | you relaxed | |
| il / elle / on | a détendu | he / she / it relaxedon: we relaxed / one relaxed | |
| nous | avons détendu | we relaxed | |
| vous | avez détendu | you relaxed | |
| ils / elles | ont détendu | they relaxed |
IN A SENTENCEPassé composé example
Hier, ce massage a détendu les muscles de Paul.
Yesterday, this massage relaxed Paul's muscles.
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’ | détendais | I used to relax | |
| tu | détendais | you used to relax | |
| il / elle / on | détendait | he / she / it used to relaxon: we used to relax / one used to relax | |
| nous | détendions | we used to relax | |
| vous | détendiez | you used to relax | |
| ils / elles | détendaient | they used to relax |
IN A SENTENCEImperfect example
Autrefois, ce massage détendait les muscles de Paul.
Back then, this massage used to relax Paul's muscles.
Future Futur simple
Future events and predictions.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | détendrai | I will relax | |
| tu | détendras | you will relax | |
| il / elle / on | détendra | he / she / it will relaxon: we will relax / one will relax | |
| nous | détendrons | we will relax | |
| vous | détendrez | you will relax | |
| ils / elles | détendront | they will relax |
IN A SENTENCEFuture example
Plus tard, ce massage détendra les muscles de Paul.
Later, this massage will relax Paul's muscles.
Conditional Conditionnel présent
Hypothetical events and polite requests.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | détendrais | I would relax | |
| tu | détendrais | you would relax | |
| il / elle / on | détendrait | he / she / it would relaxon: we would relax / one would relax | |
| nous | détendrions | we would relax | |
| vous | détendriez | you would relax | |
| ils / elles | détendraient | they would relax |
IN A SENTENCEConditional example
Ce massage détendrait les muscles de Paul.
This massage would relax Paul's muscles.
Present subjunctive Subjonctif présent
Dependent clauses expressing wishes, necessity, doubt, and certain feelings.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | détende | (that) I relax | |
| tu | détendes | (that) you relax | |
| il / elle / on | détende | (that) he / she / it relaxeson: (that) we relax / one relaxes | |
| nous | détendions | (that) we relax | |
| vous | détendiez | (that) you relax | |
| ils / elles | détendent | (that) they relax |
IN A SENTENCEPresent subjunctive example
Il est possible que ce massage détende les muscles de Paul.
It is possible that this massage relaxes Paul's muscles.
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 help relax, to calm
- to loosen, to untighten
- to remove or pull down something hung
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