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 carry out.”
Present Présent
Habits, current states, and actions happening now.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | effectue | I carry out | |
| tu | effectues | you carry out | |
| il / elle / on | effectue | he / she / it carries outon: we carry out / one carries out | |
| nous | effectuons | we carry out | |
| vous | effectuez | you carry out | |
| ils / elles | effectuent | they carry out |
IN A SENTENCEPresent example
Paul effectue une réparation simple.
Paul carries out a simple repair.
Passé composé
Completed past events, using avoir or être plus a past participle.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | ai effectué | I carried out | |
| tu | as effectué | you carried out | |
| il / elle / on | a effectué | he / she / it carried outon: we carried out / one carried out | |
| nous | avons effectué | we carried out | |
| vous | avez effectué | you carried out | |
| ils / elles | ont effectué | they carried out |
IN A SENTENCEPassé composé example
Hier, Paul a effectué une réparation simple.
Yesterday, Paul carried out a simple repair.
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’ | effectuais | I used to carry out | |
| tu | effectuais | you used to carry out | |
| il / elle / on | effectuait | he / she / it used to carry outon: we used to carry out / one used to carry out | |
| nous | effectuions | we used to carry out | |
| vous | effectuiez | you used to carry out | |
| ils / elles | effectuaient | they used to carry out |
IN A SENTENCEImperfect example
Autrefois, Paul effectuait une réparation simple.
Back then, Paul used to carry out a simple repair.
Future Futur simple
Future events and predictions.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | effectuerai | I will carry out | |
| tu | effectueras | you will carry out | |
| il / elle / on | effectuera | he / she / it will carry outon: we will carry out / one will carry out | |
| nous | effectuerons | we will carry out | |
| vous | effectuerez | you will carry out | |
| ils / elles | effectueront | they will carry out |
IN A SENTENCEFuture example
Plus tard, Paul effectuera une réparation simple.
Later, Paul will carry out a simple repair.
Conditional Conditionnel présent
Hypothetical events and polite requests.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | effectuerais | I would carry out | |
| tu | effectuerais | you would carry out | |
| il / elle / on | effectuerait | he / she / it would carry outon: we would carry out / one would carry out | |
| nous | effectuerions | we would carry out | |
| vous | effectueriez | you would carry out | |
| ils / elles | effectueraient | they would carry out |
IN A SENTENCEConditional example
Paul effectuerait une réparation simple.
Paul would carry out a simple repair.
Present subjunctive Subjonctif présent
Dependent clauses expressing wishes, necessity, doubt, and certain feelings.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | effectue | (that) I carry out | |
| tu | effectues | (that) you carry out | |
| il / elle / on | effectue | (that) he / she / it carries outon: (that) we carry out / one carries out | |
| nous | effectuions | (that) we carry out | |
| vous | effectuiez | (that) you carry out | |
| ils / elles | effectuent | (that) they carry out |
IN A SENTENCEPresent subjunctive example
Il est possible que Paul effectue une réparation simple.
It is possible that Paul carries out a simple repair.
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 carry out; to perform
- to effect
- to work out (a calculation)
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