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 erase.”
Present Présent
Habits, current states, and actions happening now.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | efface | I erase | |
| tu | effaces | you erase | |
| il / elle / on | efface | he / she / it eraseson: we erase / one erases | |
| nous | effaçons | we erase | |
| vous | effacez | you erase | |
| ils / elles | effacent | they erase |
IN A SENTENCEPresent example
Paul efface les mots sur le tableau.
Paul erases the words on the board.
Passé composé
Completed past events, using avoir or être plus a past participle.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | ai effacé | I erased | |
| tu | as effacé | you erased | |
| il / elle / on | a effacé | he / she / it erasedon: we erased / one erased | |
| nous | avons effacé | we erased | |
| vous | avez effacé | you erased | |
| ils / elles | ont effacé | they erased |
IN A SENTENCEPassé composé example
Hier, Paul a effacé les mots sur le tableau.
Yesterday, Paul erased the words on the board.
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’ | effaçais | I used to erase | |
| tu | effaçais | you used to erase | |
| il / elle / on | effaçait | he / she / it used to eraseon: we used to erase / one used to erase | |
| nous | effacions | we used to erase | |
| vous | effaciez | you used to erase | |
| ils / elles | effaçaient | they used to erase |
IN A SENTENCEImperfect example
Autrefois, Paul effaçait les mots sur le tableau.
Back then, Paul used to erase the words on the board.
Future Futur simple
Future events and predictions.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | effacerai | I will erase | |
| tu | effaceras | you will erase | |
| il / elle / on | effacera | he / she / it will eraseon: we will erase / one will erase | |
| nous | effacerons | we will erase | |
| vous | effacerez | you will erase | |
| ils / elles | effaceront | they will erase |
IN A SENTENCEFuture example
Plus tard, Paul effacera les mots sur le tableau.
Later, Paul will erase the words on the board.
Conditional Conditionnel présent
Hypothetical events and polite requests.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | effacerais | I would erase | |
| tu | effacerais | you would erase | |
| il / elle / on | effacerait | he / she / it would eraseon: we would erase / one would erase | |
| nous | effacerions | we would erase | |
| vous | effaceriez | you would erase | |
| ils / elles | effaceraient | they would erase |
IN A SENTENCEConditional example
Paul effacerait les mots sur le tableau.
Paul would erase the words on the board.
Present subjunctive Subjonctif présent
Dependent clauses expressing wishes, necessity, doubt, and certain feelings.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | efface | (that) I erase | |
| tu | effaces | (that) you erase | |
| il / elle / on | efface | (that) he / she / it eraseson: (that) we erase / one erases | |
| nous | effacions | (that) we erase | |
| vous | effaciez | (that) you erase | |
| ils / elles | effacent | (that) they erase |
IN A SENTENCEPresent subjunctive example
Il est possible que Paul efface les mots sur le tableau.
It is possible that Paul erases the words on the board.
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 erase
- to efface
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