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 dredge.”
Present Présent
Habits, current states, and actions happening now.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | drague | I dredge | |
| tu | dragues | you dredge | |
| il / elle / on | drague | he / she / it dredgeson: we dredge / one dredges | |
| nous | draguons | we dredge | |
| vous | draguez | you dredge | |
| ils / elles | draguent | they dredge |
IN A SENTENCEPresent example
Paul drague le canal pour faciliter la navigation.
Paul dredges the canal to improve navigation.
Passé composé
Completed past events, using avoir or être plus a past participle.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | ai dragué | I dredged | |
| tu | as dragué | you dredged | |
| il / elle / on | a dragué | he / she / it dredgedon: we dredged / one dredged | |
| nous | avons dragué | we dredged | |
| vous | avez dragué | you dredged | |
| ils / elles | ont dragué | they dredged |
IN A SENTENCEPassé composé example
Hier, Paul a dragué le canal pour faciliter la navigation.
Yesterday, Paul dredged the canal to improve navigation.
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’ | draguais | I used to dredge | |
| tu | draguais | you used to dredge | |
| il / elle / on | draguait | he / she / it used to dredgeon: we used to dredge / one used to dredge | |
| nous | draguions | we used to dredge | |
| vous | draguiez | you used to dredge | |
| ils / elles | draguaient | they used to dredge |
IN A SENTENCEImperfect example
Autrefois, Paul draguait le canal pour faciliter la navigation.
Back then, Paul used to dredge the canal to improve navigation.
Future Futur simple
Future events and predictions.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | draguerai | I will dredge | |
| tu | dragueras | you will dredge | |
| il / elle / on | draguera | he / she / it will dredgeon: we will dredge / one will dredge | |
| nous | draguerons | we will dredge | |
| vous | draguerez | you will dredge | |
| ils / elles | dragueront | they will dredge |
IN A SENTENCEFuture example
Plus tard, Paul draguera le canal pour faciliter la navigation.
Later, Paul will dredge the canal to improve navigation.
Conditional Conditionnel présent
Hypothetical events and polite requests.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | draguerais | I would dredge | |
| tu | draguerais | you would dredge | |
| il / elle / on | draguerait | he / she / it would dredgeon: we would dredge / one would dredge | |
| nous | draguerions | we would dredge | |
| vous | dragueriez | you would dredge | |
| ils / elles | dragueraient | they would dredge |
IN A SENTENCEConditional example
Paul draguerait le canal pour faciliter la navigation.
Paul would dredge the canal to improve navigation.
Present subjunctive Subjonctif présent
Dependent clauses expressing wishes, necessity, doubt, and certain feelings.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | drague | (that) I dredge | |
| tu | dragues | (that) you dredge | |
| il / elle / on | drague | (that) he / she / it dredgeson: (that) we dredge / one dredges | |
| nous | draguions | (that) we dredge | |
| vous | draguiez | (that) you dredge | |
| ils / elles | draguent | (that) they dredge |
IN A SENTENCEPresent subjunctive example
Il est possible que Paul drague le canal pour faciliter la navigation.
It is possible that Paul dredges the canal to improve navigation.
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 dredge (to make a channel wider or deeper)
- to dredge (to bring something underwater to surface)
- to chat up (to talk to flirtatiously), to flirt, to hit on somebody
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