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 run.”
Present Présent
Habits, current states, and actions happening now.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | dirige | I run | |
| tu | diriges | you run | |
| il / elle / on | dirige | he / she / it runson: we run / one runs | |
| nous | dirigeons | we run | |
| vous | dirigez | you run | |
| ils / elles | dirigent | they run |
IN A SENTENCEPresent example
Paul dirige une petite entreprise.
Paul runs a small business.
Passé composé
Completed past events, using avoir or être plus a past participle.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | ai dirigé | I ran | |
| tu | as dirigé | you ran | |
| il / elle / on | a dirigé | he / she / it ranon: we ran / one ran | |
| nous | avons dirigé | we ran | |
| vous | avez dirigé | you ran | |
| ils / elles | ont dirigé | they ran |
IN A SENTENCEPassé composé example
Hier, Paul a dirigé une petite entreprise.
Yesterday, Paul ran a small business.
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’ | dirigeais | I used to run | |
| tu | dirigeais | you used to run | |
| il / elle / on | dirigeait | he / she / it used to runon: we used to run / one used to run | |
| nous | dirigions | we used to run | |
| vous | dirigiez | you used to run | |
| ils / elles | dirigeaient | they used to run |
IN A SENTENCEImperfect example
Autrefois, Paul dirigeait une petite entreprise.
Back then, Paul used to run a small business.
Future Futur simple
Future events and predictions.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | dirigerai | I will run | |
| tu | dirigeras | you will run | |
| il / elle / on | dirigera | he / she / it will runon: we will run / one will run | |
| nous | dirigerons | we will run | |
| vous | dirigerez | you will run | |
| ils / elles | dirigeront | they will run |
IN A SENTENCEFuture example
Plus tard, Paul dirigera une petite entreprise.
Later, Paul will run a small business.
Conditional Conditionnel présent
Hypothetical events and polite requests.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | dirigerais | I would run | |
| tu | dirigerais | you would run | |
| il / elle / on | dirigerait | he / she / it would runon: we would run / one would run | |
| nous | dirigerions | we would run | |
| vous | dirigeriez | you would run | |
| ils / elles | dirigeraient | they would run |
IN A SENTENCEConditional example
Paul dirigerait une petite entreprise.
Paul would run a small business.
Present subjunctive Subjonctif présent
Dependent clauses expressing wishes, necessity, doubt, and certain feelings.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | dirige | (that) I run | |
| tu | diriges | (that) you run | |
| il / elle / on | dirige | (that) he / she / it runson: (that) we run / one runs | |
| nous | dirigions | (that) we run | |
| vous | dirigiez | (that) you run | |
| ils / elles | dirigent | (that) they run |
IN A SENTENCEPresent subjunctive example
Il est possible que Paul dirige une petite entreprise.
It is possible that Paul runs a small business.
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 run; to direct (be the director of)
- to supervise; to oversee
- to steer (vehicles)
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