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 say.”
Present Présent
Habits, current states, and actions happening now.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | dis | I say | |
| tu | dis | you say | |
| il / elle / on | dit | he / she / it sayson: we say / one says | |
| nous | disons | we say | |
| vous | dites | you say | |
| ils / elles | disent | they say |
IN A SENTENCEPresent example
Paul dit la vérité.
Paul says the truth.
Passé composé
Completed past events, using avoir or être plus a past participle.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | ai dit | I said | |
| tu | as dit | you said | |
| il / elle / on | a dit | he / she / it saidon: we said / one said | |
| nous | avons dit | we said | |
| vous | avez dit | you said | |
| ils / elles | ont dit | they said |
IN A SENTENCEPassé composé example
Hier, Paul a dit la vérité.
Yesterday, Paul said the truth.
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’ | disais | I used to say | |
| tu | disais | you used to say | |
| il / elle / on | disait | he / she / it used to sayon: we used to say / one used to say | |
| nous | disions | we used to say | |
| vous | disiez | you used to say | |
| ils / elles | disaient | they used to say |
IN A SENTENCEImperfect example
Autrefois, Paul disait la vérité.
Back then, Paul used to say the truth.
Future Futur simple
Future events and predictions.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | dirai | I will say | |
| tu | diras | you will say | |
| il / elle / on | dira | he / she / it will sayon: we will say / one will say | |
| nous | dirons | we will say | |
| vous | direz | you will say | |
| ils / elles | diront | they will say |
IN A SENTENCEFuture example
Plus tard, Paul dira la vérité.
Later, Paul will say the truth.
Conditional Conditionnel présent
Hypothetical events and polite requests.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | dirais | I would say | |
| tu | dirais | you would say | |
| il / elle / on | dirait | he / she / it would sayon: we would say / one would say | |
| nous | dirions | we would say | |
| vous | diriez | you would say | |
| ils / elles | diraient | they would say |
IN A SENTENCEConditional example
Paul dirait la vérité.
Paul would say the truth.
Present subjunctive Subjonctif présent
Dependent clauses expressing wishes, necessity, doubt, and certain feelings.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | dise | (that) I say | |
| tu | dises | (that) you say | |
| il / elle / on | dise | (that) he / she / it sayson: (that) we say / one says | |
| nous | disions | (that) we say | |
| vous | disiez | (that) you say | |
| ils / elles | disent | (that) they say |
IN A SENTENCEPresent subjunctive example
Il est possible que Paul dise la vérité.
It is possible that Paul says the truth.
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 say, to tell (to express through speech)
- to tell (to order, to advise)
- to say, to tell (to set out in writing)
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