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 last.”
Present Présent
Habits, current states, and actions happening now.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | dure | I last | |
| tu | dures | you last | |
| il / elle / on | dure | he / she / it lastson: we last / one lasts | |
| nous | durons | we last | |
| vous | durez | you last | |
| ils / elles | durent | they last |
IN A SENTENCEPresent example
Le cours dure une heure.
The lesson lasts an hour.
Passé composé
Completed past events, using avoir or être plus a past participle.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | ai duré | I lasted | |
| tu | as duré | you lasted | |
| il / elle / on | a duré | he / she / it lastedon: we lasted / one lasted | |
| nous | avons duré | we lasted | |
| vous | avez duré | you lasted | |
| ils / elles | ont duré | they lasted |
IN A SENTENCEPassé composé example
Hier, le cours a duré une heure.
Yesterday, the lesson lasted an hour.
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’ | durais | I used to last | |
| tu | durais | you used to last | |
| il / elle / on | durait | he / she / it used to laston: we used to last / one used to last | |
| nous | durions | we used to last | |
| vous | duriez | you used to last | |
| ils / elles | duraient | they used to last |
IN A SENTENCEImperfect example
Autrefois, le cours durait une heure.
Back then, the lesson used to last an hour.
Future Futur simple
Future events and predictions.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | durerai | I will last | |
| tu | dureras | you will last | |
| il / elle / on | durera | he / she / it will laston: we will last / one will last | |
| nous | durerons | we will last | |
| vous | durerez | you will last | |
| ils / elles | dureront | they will last |
IN A SENTENCEFuture example
Plus tard, le cours durera une heure.
Later, the lesson will last an hour.
Conditional Conditionnel présent
Hypothetical events and polite requests.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | durerais | I would last | |
| tu | durerais | you would last | |
| il / elle / on | durerait | he / she / it would laston: we would last / one would last | |
| nous | durerions | we would last | |
| vous | dureriez | you would last | |
| ils / elles | dureraient | they would last |
IN A SENTENCEConditional example
Le cours durerait une heure.
The lesson would last an hour.
Present subjunctive Subjonctif présent
Dependent clauses expressing wishes, necessity, doubt, and certain feelings.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | dure | (that) I last | |
| tu | dures | (that) you last | |
| il / elle / on | dure | (that) he / she / it lastson: (that) we last / one lasts | |
| nous | durions | (that) we last | |
| vous | duriez | (that) you last | |
| ils / elles | durent | (that) they last |
IN A SENTENCEPresent subjunctive example
Il est possible que le cours dure une heure.
It is possible that the lesson lasts an hour.
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 last (for)
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