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 fail.”
Present Présent
Habits, current states, and actions happening now.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | échoue | I fail | |
| tu | échoues | you fail | |
| il / elle / on | échoue | he / she / it failson: we fail / one fails | |
| nous | échouons | we fail | |
| vous | échouez | you fail | |
| ils / elles | échouent | they fail |
IN A SENTENCEPresent example
Paul échoue à l'examen de conduite.
Paul fails the driving test.
Passé composé
Completed past events, using avoir or être plus a past participle.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | ai échoué | I failed | |
| tu | as échoué | you failed | |
| il / elle / on | a échoué | he / she / it failedon: we failed / one failed | |
| nous | avons échoué | we failed | |
| vous | avez échoué | you failed | |
| ils / elles | ont échoué | they failed |
IN A SENTENCEPassé composé example
Hier, Paul a échoué à l'examen de conduite.
Yesterday, Paul failed the driving test.
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’ | échouais | I used to fail | |
| tu | échouais | you used to fail | |
| il / elle / on | échouait | he / she / it used to failon: we used to fail / one used to fail | |
| nous | échouions | we used to fail | |
| vous | échouiez | you used to fail | |
| ils / elles | échouaient | they used to fail |
IN A SENTENCEImperfect example
Autrefois, Paul échouait à l'examen de conduite.
Back then, Paul used to fail the driving test.
Future Futur simple
Future events and predictions.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | échouerai | I will fail | |
| tu | échoueras | you will fail | |
| il / elle / on | échouera | he / she / it will failon: we will fail / one will fail | |
| nous | échouerons | we will fail | |
| vous | échouerez | you will fail | |
| ils / elles | échoueront | they will fail |
IN A SENTENCEFuture example
Plus tard, Paul échouera à l'examen de conduite.
Later, Paul will fail the driving test.
Conditional Conditionnel présent
Hypothetical events and polite requests.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | échouerais | I would fail | |
| tu | échouerais | you would fail | |
| il / elle / on | échouerait | he / she / it would failon: we would fail / one would fail | |
| nous | échouerions | we would fail | |
| vous | échoueriez | you would fail | |
| ils / elles | échoueraient | they would fail |
IN A SENTENCEConditional example
Paul échouerait à l'examen de conduite.
Paul would fail the driving test.
Present subjunctive Subjonctif présent
Dependent clauses expressing wishes, necessity, doubt, and certain feelings.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | échoue | (that) I fail | |
| tu | échoues | (that) you fail | |
| il / elle / on | échoue | (that) he / she / it failson: (that) we fail / one fails | |
| nous | échouions | (that) we fail | |
| vous | échouiez | (that) you fail | |
| ils / elles | échouent | (that) they fail |
IN A SENTENCEPresent subjunctive example
Il est possible que Paul échoue à l'examen de conduite.
It is possible that Paul fails the driving test.
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 fail, fall through, miscarry
- to end, wind up
- to beach
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