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 burst.”
Present Présent
Habits, current states, and actions happening now.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | éclate | I burst | |
| tu | éclates | you burst | |
| il / elle / on | éclate | he / she / it burstson: we burst / one bursts | |
| nous | éclatons | we burst | |
| vous | éclatez | you burst | |
| ils / elles | éclatent | they burst |
IN A SENTENCEPresent example
Le ballon éclate au contact de l'aiguille.
The balloon bursts on contact with the needle.
Passé composé
Completed past events, using avoir or être plus a past participle.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | ai éclaté | I burst | |
| tu | as éclaté | you burst | |
| il / elle / on | a éclaté | he / she / it burston: we burst / one burst | |
| nous | avons éclaté | we burst | |
| vous | avez éclaté | you burst | |
| ils / elles | ont éclaté | they burst |
IN A SENTENCEPassé composé example
Hier, le ballon a éclaté au contact de l'aiguille.
Yesterday, the balloon burst on contact with the needle.
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’ | éclatais | I used to burst | |
| tu | éclatais | you used to burst | |
| il / elle / on | éclatait | he / she / it used to burston: we used to burst / one used to burst | |
| nous | éclations | we used to burst | |
| vous | éclatiez | you used to burst | |
| ils / elles | éclataient | they used to burst |
IN A SENTENCEImperfect example
Autrefois, le ballon éclatait au contact de l'aiguille.
Back then, the balloon used to burst on contact with the needle.
Future Futur simple
Future events and predictions.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | éclaterai | I will burst | |
| tu | éclateras | you will burst | |
| il / elle / on | éclatera | he / she / it will burston: we will burst / one will burst | |
| nous | éclaterons | we will burst | |
| vous | éclaterez | you will burst | |
| ils / elles | éclateront | they will burst |
IN A SENTENCEFuture example
Plus tard, le ballon éclatera au contact de l'aiguille.
Later, the balloon will burst on contact with the needle.
Conditional Conditionnel présent
Hypothetical events and polite requests.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | éclaterais | I would burst | |
| tu | éclaterais | you would burst | |
| il / elle / on | éclaterait | he / she / it would burston: we would burst / one would burst | |
| nous | éclaterions | we would burst | |
| vous | éclateriez | you would burst | |
| ils / elles | éclateraient | they would burst |
IN A SENTENCEConditional example
Le ballon éclaterait au contact de l'aiguille.
The balloon would burst on contact with the needle.
Present subjunctive Subjonctif présent
Dependent clauses expressing wishes, necessity, doubt, and certain feelings.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | éclate | (that) I burst | |
| tu | éclates | (that) you burst | |
| il / elle / on | éclate | (that) he / she / it burstson: (that) we burst / one bursts | |
| nous | éclations | (that) we burst | |
| vous | éclatiez | (that) you burst | |
| ils / elles | éclatent | (that) they burst |
IN A SENTENCEPresent subjunctive example
Il est possible que le ballon éclate au contact de l'aiguille.
It is possible that the balloon bursts on contact with the needle.
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 burst; to break, to shatter
- to boom (make a loud noise)
- to shine
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