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 divert.”
Present Présent
Habits, current states, and actions happening now.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | détourne | I divert | |
| tu | détournes | you divert | |
| il / elle / on | détourne | he / she / it divertson: we divert / one diverts | |
| nous | détournons | we divert | |
| vous | détournez | you divert | |
| ils / elles | détournent | they divert |
IN A SENTENCEPresent example
Le policier détourne la circulation vers une autre rue.
The police officer diverts traffic onto another street.
Passé composé
Completed past events, using avoir or être plus a past participle.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | ai détourné | I diverted | |
| tu | as détourné | you diverted | |
| il / elle / on | a détourné | he / she / it divertedon: we diverted / one diverted | |
| nous | avons détourné | we diverted | |
| vous | avez détourné | you diverted | |
| ils / elles | ont détourné | they diverted |
IN A SENTENCEPassé composé example
Hier, le policier a détourné la circulation vers une autre rue.
Yesterday, the police officer diverted traffic onto another street.
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’ | détournais | I used to divert | |
| tu | détournais | you used to divert | |
| il / elle / on | détournait | he / she / it used to diverton: we used to divert / one used to divert | |
| nous | détournions | we used to divert | |
| vous | détourniez | you used to divert | |
| ils / elles | détournaient | they used to divert |
IN A SENTENCEImperfect example
Autrefois, le policier détournait la circulation vers une autre rue.
Back then, the police officer used to divert traffic onto another street.
Future Futur simple
Future events and predictions.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | détournerai | I will divert | |
| tu | détourneras | you will divert | |
| il / elle / on | détournera | he / she / it will diverton: we will divert / one will divert | |
| nous | détournerons | we will divert | |
| vous | détournerez | you will divert | |
| ils / elles | détourneront | they will divert |
IN A SENTENCEFuture example
Plus tard, le policier détournera la circulation vers une autre rue.
Later, the police officer will divert traffic onto another street.
Conditional Conditionnel présent
Hypothetical events and polite requests.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | détournerais | I would divert | |
| tu | détournerais | you would divert | |
| il / elle / on | détournerait | he / she / it would diverton: we would divert / one would divert | |
| nous | détournerions | we would divert | |
| vous | détourneriez | you would divert | |
| ils / elles | détourneraient | they would divert |
IN A SENTENCEConditional example
Le policier détournerait la circulation vers une autre rue.
The police officer would divert traffic onto another street.
Present subjunctive Subjonctif présent
Dependent clauses expressing wishes, necessity, doubt, and certain feelings.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | détourne | (that) I divert | |
| tu | détournes | (that) you divert | |
| il / elle / on | détourne | (that) he / she / it divertson: (that) we divert / one diverts | |
| nous | détournions | (that) we divert | |
| vous | détourniez | (that) you divert | |
| ils / elles | détournent | (that) they divert |
IN A SENTENCEPresent subjunctive example
Il est possible que le policier détourne la circulation vers une autre rue.
It is possible that the police officer diverts traffic onto another street.
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 divert, to redirect
- to distract, to divert (attention)
- to hijack
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