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 brighten.”
Present Présent
Habits, current states, and actions happening now.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | éclaircis | I brighten | |
| tu | éclaircis | you brighten | |
| il / elle / on | éclaircit | he / she / it brightenson: we brighten / one brightens | |
| nous | éclaircissons | we brighten | |
| vous | éclaircissez | you brighten | |
| ils / elles | éclaircissent | they brighten |
IN A SENTENCEPresent example
Paul éclaircit la pièce avec de la peinture blanche.
Paul brightens the room with white paint.
Passé composé
Completed past events, using avoir or être plus a past participle.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | ai éclairci | I brightened | |
| tu | as éclairci | you brightened | |
| il / elle / on | a éclairci | he / she / it brightenedon: we brightened / one brightened | |
| nous | avons éclairci | we brightened | |
| vous | avez éclairci | you brightened | |
| ils / elles | ont éclairci | they brightened |
IN A SENTENCEPassé composé example
Hier, Paul a éclairci la pièce avec de la peinture blanche.
Yesterday, Paul brightened the room with white paint.
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’ | éclaircissais | I used to brighten | |
| tu | éclaircissais | you used to brighten | |
| il / elle / on | éclaircissait | he / she / it used to brightenon: we used to brighten / one used to brighten | |
| nous | éclaircissions | we used to brighten | |
| vous | éclaircissiez | you used to brighten | |
| ils / elles | éclaircissaient | they used to brighten |
IN A SENTENCEImperfect example
Autrefois, Paul éclaircissait la pièce avec de la peinture blanche.
Back then, Paul used to brighten the room with white paint.
Future Futur simple
Future events and predictions.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | éclaircirai | I will brighten | |
| tu | éclairciras | you will brighten | |
| il / elle / on | éclaircira | he / she / it will brightenon: we will brighten / one will brighten | |
| nous | éclaircirons | we will brighten | |
| vous | éclaircirez | you will brighten | |
| ils / elles | éclairciront | they will brighten |
IN A SENTENCEFuture example
Plus tard, Paul éclaircira la pièce avec de la peinture blanche.
Later, Paul will brighten the room with white paint.
Conditional Conditionnel présent
Hypothetical events and polite requests.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | éclaircirais | I would brighten | |
| tu | éclaircirais | you would brighten | |
| il / elle / on | éclaircirait | he / she / it would brightenon: we would brighten / one would brighten | |
| nous | éclaircirions | we would brighten | |
| vous | éclairciriez | you would brighten | |
| ils / elles | éclairciraient | they would brighten |
IN A SENTENCEConditional example
Paul éclaircirait la pièce avec de la peinture blanche.
Paul would brighten the room with white paint.
Present subjunctive Subjonctif présent
Dependent clauses expressing wishes, necessity, doubt, and certain feelings.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | éclaircisse | (that) I brighten | |
| tu | éclaircisses | (that) you brighten | |
| il / elle / on | éclaircisse | (that) he / she / it brightenson: (that) we brighten / one brightens | |
| nous | éclaircissions | (that) we brighten | |
| vous | éclaircissiez | (that) you brighten | |
| ils / elles | éclaircissent | (that) they brighten |
IN A SENTENCEPresent subjunctive example
Il est possible que Paul éclaircisse la pièce avec de la peinture blanche.
It is possible that Paul brightens the room with white paint.
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 brighten (up)
- to thin (down)
- to clear up, solve, clarify (mystery, problem etc.)
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