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 unveil.”
Present Présent
Habits, current states, and actions happening now.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | dévoile | I unveil | |
| tu | dévoiles | you unveil | |
| il / elle / on | dévoile | he / she / it unveilson: we unveil / one unveils | |
| nous | dévoilons | we unveil | |
| vous | dévoilez | you unveil | |
| ils / elles | dévoilent | they unveil |
IN A SENTENCEPresent example
Le maire dévoile la nouvelle statue sur la place.
The mayor unveils the new statue in the square.
Passé composé
Completed past events, using avoir or être plus a past participle.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | ai dévoilé | I unveiled | |
| tu | as dévoilé | you unveiled | |
| il / elle / on | a dévoilé | he / she / it unveiledon: we unveiled / one unveiled | |
| nous | avons dévoilé | we unveiled | |
| vous | avez dévoilé | you unveiled | |
| ils / elles | ont dévoilé | they unveiled |
IN A SENTENCEPassé composé example
Hier, le maire a dévoilé la nouvelle statue sur la place.
Yesterday, the mayor unveiled the new statue in the square.
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’ | dévoilais | I used to unveil | |
| tu | dévoilais | you used to unveil | |
| il / elle / on | dévoilait | he / she / it used to unveilon: we used to unveil / one used to unveil | |
| nous | dévoilions | we used to unveil | |
| vous | dévoiliez | you used to unveil | |
| ils / elles | dévoilaient | they used to unveil |
IN A SENTENCEImperfect example
Autrefois, le maire dévoilait la nouvelle statue sur la place.
Back then, the mayor used to unveil the new statue in the square.
Future Futur simple
Future events and predictions.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | dévoilerai | I will unveil | |
| tu | dévoileras | you will unveil | |
| il / elle / on | dévoilera | he / she / it will unveilon: we will unveil / one will unveil | |
| nous | dévoilerons | we will unveil | |
| vous | dévoilerez | you will unveil | |
| ils / elles | dévoileront | they will unveil |
IN A SENTENCEFuture example
Plus tard, le maire dévoilera la nouvelle statue sur la place.
Later, the mayor will unveil the new statue in the square.
Conditional Conditionnel présent
Hypothetical events and polite requests.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | dévoilerais | I would unveil | |
| tu | dévoilerais | you would unveil | |
| il / elle / on | dévoilerait | he / she / it would unveilon: we would unveil / one would unveil | |
| nous | dévoilerions | we would unveil | |
| vous | dévoileriez | you would unveil | |
| ils / elles | dévoileraient | they would unveil |
IN A SENTENCEConditional example
Le maire dévoilerait la nouvelle statue sur la place.
The mayor would unveil the new statue in the square.
Present subjunctive Subjonctif présent
Dependent clauses expressing wishes, necessity, doubt, and certain feelings.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | dévoile | (that) I unveil | |
| tu | dévoiles | (that) you unveil | |
| il / elle / on | dévoile | (that) he / she / it unveilson: (that) we unveil / one unveils | |
| nous | dévoilions | (that) we unveil | |
| vous | dévoiliez | (that) you unveil | |
| ils / elles | dévoilent | (that) they unveil |
IN A SENTENCEPresent subjunctive example
Il est possible que le maire dévoile la nouvelle statue sur la place.
It is possible that the mayor unveils the new statue in the square.
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 unveil (remove a veil from)
- to unveil, to reveal, to disclose
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