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 dissolve.”
Present Présent
Habits, current states, and actions happening now.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | dissous | I dissolve | |
| tu | dissous | you dissolve | |
| il / elle / on | dissout | he / she / it dissolveson: we dissolve / one dissolves | |
| nous | dissolvons | we dissolve | |
| vous | dissolvez | you dissolve | |
| ils / elles | dissolvent | they dissolve |
IN A SENTENCEPresent example
Paul dissout le sucre dans l'eau chaude.
Paul dissolves the sugar in the hot water.
Passé composé
Completed past events, using avoir or être plus a past participle.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | ai dissous | I dissolved | |
| tu | as dissous | you dissolved | |
| il / elle / on | a dissous | he / she / it dissolvedon: we dissolved / one dissolved | |
| nous | avons dissous | we dissolved | |
| vous | avez dissous | you dissolved | |
| ils / elles | ont dissous | they dissolved |
IN A SENTENCEPassé composé example
Hier, Paul a dissous le sucre dans l'eau chaude.
Yesterday, Paul dissolved the sugar in the hot water.
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’ | dissolvais | I used to dissolve | |
| tu | dissolvais | you used to dissolve | |
| il / elle / on | dissolvait | he / she / it used to dissolveon: we used to dissolve / one used to dissolve | |
| nous | dissolvions | we used to dissolve | |
| vous | dissolviez | you used to dissolve | |
| ils / elles | dissolvaient | they used to dissolve |
IN A SENTENCEImperfect example
Autrefois, Paul dissolvait le sucre dans l'eau chaude.
Back then, Paul used to dissolve the sugar in the hot water.
Future Futur simple
Future events and predictions.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | dissoudrai | I will dissolve | |
| tu | dissoudras | you will dissolve | |
| il / elle / on | dissoudra | he / she / it will dissolveon: we will dissolve / one will dissolve | |
| nous | dissoudrons | we will dissolve | |
| vous | dissoudrez | you will dissolve | |
| ils / elles | dissoudront | they will dissolve |
IN A SENTENCEFuture example
Plus tard, Paul dissoudra le sucre dans l'eau chaude.
Later, Paul will dissolve the sugar in the hot water.
Conditional Conditionnel présent
Hypothetical events and polite requests.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | dissoudrais | I would dissolve | |
| tu | dissoudrais | you would dissolve | |
| il / elle / on | dissoudrait | he / she / it would dissolveon: we would dissolve / one would dissolve | |
| nous | dissoudrions | we would dissolve | |
| vous | dissoudriez | you would dissolve | |
| ils / elles | dissoudraient | they would dissolve |
IN A SENTENCEConditional example
Paul dissoudrait le sucre dans l'eau chaude.
Paul would dissolve the sugar in the hot water.
Present subjunctive Subjonctif présent
Dependent clauses expressing wishes, necessity, doubt, and certain feelings.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | dissolve | (that) I dissolve | |
| tu | dissolves | (that) you dissolve | |
| il / elle / on | dissolve | (that) he / she / it dissolveson: (that) we dissolve / one dissolves | |
| nous | dissolvions | (that) we dissolve | |
| vous | dissolviez | (that) you dissolve | |
| ils / elles | dissolvent | (that) they dissolve |
IN A SENTENCEPresent subjunctive example
Il est possible que Paul dissolve le sucre dans l'eau chaude.
It is possible that Paul dissolves the sugar in the hot water.
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 dissolve, separate, disintegrate, disperse
- to nullify (as a contract)
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