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 broadcast.”
Present Présent
Habits, current states, and actions happening now.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | diffuse | I broadcast | |
| tu | diffuses | you broadcast | |
| il / elle / on | diffuse | he / she / it broadcastson: we broadcast / one broadcasts | |
| nous | diffusons | we broadcast | |
| vous | diffusez | you broadcast | |
| ils / elles | diffusent | they broadcast |
IN A SENTENCEPresent example
La station diffuse un bulletin météo.
The station broadcasts a weather report.
Passé composé
Completed past events, using avoir or être plus a past participle.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | ai diffusé | I broadcast | |
| tu | as diffusé | you broadcast | |
| il / elle / on | a diffusé | he / she / it broadcaston: we broadcast / one broadcast | |
| nous | avons diffusé | we broadcast | |
| vous | avez diffusé | you broadcast | |
| ils / elles | ont diffusé | they broadcast |
IN A SENTENCEPassé composé example
Hier, la station a diffusé un bulletin météo.
Yesterday, the station broadcast a weather report.
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’ | diffusais | I used to broadcast | |
| tu | diffusais | you used to broadcast | |
| il / elle / on | diffusait | he / she / it used to broadcaston: we used to broadcast / one used to broadcast | |
| nous | diffusions | we used to broadcast | |
| vous | diffusiez | you used to broadcast | |
| ils / elles | diffusaient | they used to broadcast |
IN A SENTENCEImperfect example
Autrefois, la station diffusait un bulletin météo.
Back then, the station used to broadcast a weather report.
Future Futur simple
Future events and predictions.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | diffuserai | I will broadcast | |
| tu | diffuseras | you will broadcast | |
| il / elle / on | diffusera | he / she / it will broadcaston: we will broadcast / one will broadcast | |
| nous | diffuserons | we will broadcast | |
| vous | diffuserez | you will broadcast | |
| ils / elles | diffuseront | they will broadcast |
IN A SENTENCEFuture example
Plus tard, la station diffusera un bulletin météo.
Later, the station will broadcast a weather report.
Conditional Conditionnel présent
Hypothetical events and polite requests.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | diffuserais | I would broadcast | |
| tu | diffuserais | you would broadcast | |
| il / elle / on | diffuserait | he / she / it would broadcaston: we would broadcast / one would broadcast | |
| nous | diffuserions | we would broadcast | |
| vous | diffuseriez | you would broadcast | |
| ils / elles | diffuseraient | they would broadcast |
IN A SENTENCEConditional example
La station diffuserait un bulletin météo.
The station would broadcast a weather report.
Present subjunctive Subjonctif présent
Dependent clauses expressing wishes, necessity, doubt, and certain feelings.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | diffuse | (that) I broadcast | |
| tu | diffuses | (that) you broadcast | |
| il / elle / on | diffuse | (that) he / she / it broadcastson: (that) we broadcast / one broadcasts | |
| nous | diffusions | (that) we broadcast | |
| vous | diffusiez | (that) you broadcast | |
| ils / elles | diffusent | (that) they broadcast |
IN A SENTENCEPresent subjunctive example
Il est possible que la station diffuse un bulletin météo.
It is possible that the station broadcasts a weather report.
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 diffuse
- to broadcast
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