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 distribute.”
Present Présent
Habits, current states, and actions happening now.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | distribue | I distribute | |
| tu | distribues | you distribute | |
| il / elle / on | distribue | he / she / it distributeson: we distribute / one distributes | |
| nous | distribuons | we distribute | |
| vous | distribuez | you distribute | |
| ils / elles | distribuent | they distribute |
IN A SENTENCEPresent example
Paul distribue les programmes à l'entrée du théâtre.
Paul distributes the programmes at the theatre entrance.
Passé composé
Completed past events, using avoir or être plus a past participle.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | ai distribué | I distributed | |
| tu | as distribué | you distributed | |
| il / elle / on | a distribué | he / she / it distributedon: we distributed / one distributed | |
| nous | avons distribué | we distributed | |
| vous | avez distribué | you distributed | |
| ils / elles | ont distribué | they distributed |
IN A SENTENCEPassé composé example
Hier, Paul a distribué les programmes à l'entrée du théâtre.
Yesterday, Paul distributed the programmes at the theatre entrance.
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’ | distribuais | I used to distribute | |
| tu | distribuais | you used to distribute | |
| il / elle / on | distribuait | he / she / it used to distributeon: we used to distribute / one used to distribute | |
| nous | distribuions | we used to distribute | |
| vous | distribuiez | you used to distribute | |
| ils / elles | distribuaient | they used to distribute |
IN A SENTENCEImperfect example
Autrefois, Paul distribuait les programmes à l'entrée du théâtre.
Back then, Paul used to distribute the programmes at the theatre entrance.
Future Futur simple
Future events and predictions.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | distribuerai | I will distribute | |
| tu | distribueras | you will distribute | |
| il / elle / on | distribuera | he / she / it will distributeon: we will distribute / one will distribute | |
| nous | distribuerons | we will distribute | |
| vous | distribuerez | you will distribute | |
| ils / elles | distribueront | they will distribute |
IN A SENTENCEFuture example
Plus tard, Paul distribuera les programmes à l'entrée du théâtre.
Later, Paul will distribute the programmes at the theatre entrance.
Conditional Conditionnel présent
Hypothetical events and polite requests.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | distribuerais | I would distribute | |
| tu | distribuerais | you would distribute | |
| il / elle / on | distribuerait | he / she / it would distributeon: we would distribute / one would distribute | |
| nous | distribuerions | we would distribute | |
| vous | distribueriez | you would distribute | |
| ils / elles | distribueraient | they would distribute |
IN A SENTENCEConditional example
Paul distribuerait les programmes à l'entrée du théâtre.
Paul would distribute the programmes at the theatre entrance.
Present subjunctive Subjonctif présent
Dependent clauses expressing wishes, necessity, doubt, and certain feelings.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | distribue | (that) I distribute | |
| tu | distribues | (that) you distribute | |
| il / elle / on | distribue | (that) he / she / it distributeson: (that) we distribute / one distributes | |
| nous | distribuions | (that) we distribute | |
| vous | distribuiez | (that) you distribute | |
| ils / elles | distribuent | (that) they distribute |
IN A SENTENCEPresent subjunctive example
Il est possible que Paul distribue les programmes à l'entrée du théâtre.
It is possible that Paul distributes the programmes at the theatre entrance.
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 distribute
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