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 hate.”
Present Présent
Habits, current states, and actions happening now.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | déteste | I hate | |
| tu | détestes | you hate | |
| il / elle / on | déteste | he / she / it hateson: we hate / one hates | |
| nous | détestons | we hate | |
| vous | détestez | you hate | |
| ils / elles | détestent | they hate |
IN A SENTENCEPresent example
Paul déteste les embouteillages.
Paul hates traffic jams.
Passé composé
Completed past events, using avoir or être plus a past participle.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | ai détesté | I hated | |
| tu | as détesté | you hated | |
| il / elle / on | a détesté | he / she / it hatedon: we hated / one hated | |
| nous | avons détesté | we hated | |
| vous | avez détesté | you hated | |
| ils / elles | ont détesté | they hated |
IN A SENTENCEPassé composé example
Hier, Paul a détesté les embouteillages.
Yesterday, Paul hated traffic jams.
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’ | détestais | I used to hate | |
| tu | détestais | you used to hate | |
| il / elle / on | détestait | he / she / it used to hateon: we used to hate / one used to hate | |
| nous | détestions | we used to hate | |
| vous | détestiez | you used to hate | |
| ils / elles | détestaient | they used to hate |
IN A SENTENCEImperfect example
Autrefois, Paul détestait les embouteillages.
Back then, Paul used to hate traffic jams.
Future Futur simple
Future events and predictions.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | détesterai | I will hate | |
| tu | détesteras | you will hate | |
| il / elle / on | détestera | he / she / it will hateon: we will hate / one will hate | |
| nous | détesterons | we will hate | |
| vous | détesterez | you will hate | |
| ils / elles | détesteront | they will hate |
IN A SENTENCEFuture example
Plus tard, Paul détestera les embouteillages.
Later, Paul will hate traffic jams.
Conditional Conditionnel présent
Hypothetical events and polite requests.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | détesterais | I would hate | |
| tu | détesterais | you would hate | |
| il / elle / on | détesterait | he / she / it would hateon: we would hate / one would hate | |
| nous | détesterions | we would hate | |
| vous | détesteriez | you would hate | |
| ils / elles | détesteraient | they would hate |
IN A SENTENCEConditional example
Paul détesterait les embouteillages.
Paul would hate traffic jams.
Present subjunctive Subjonctif présent
Dependent clauses expressing wishes, necessity, doubt, and certain feelings.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | déteste | (that) I hate | |
| tu | détestes | (that) you hate | |
| il / elle / on | déteste | (that) he / she / it hateson: (that) we hate / one hates | |
| nous | détestions | (that) we hate | |
| vous | détestiez | (that) you hate | |
| ils / elles | détestent | (that) they hate |
IN A SENTENCEPresent subjunctive example
Il est possible que Paul déteste les embouteillages.
It is possible that Paul hates traffic jams.
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 hate, to detest (to thoroughly dislike)
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