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 widen.”
Present Présent
Habits, current states, and actions happening now.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | élargis | I widen | |
| tu | élargis | you widen | |
| il / elle / on | élargit | he / she / it widenson: we widen / one widens | |
| nous | élargissons | we widen | |
| vous | élargissez | you widen | |
| ils / elles | élargissent | they widen |
IN A SENTENCEPresent example
Le jardinier élargit l'allée pour laisser passer la brouette.
The gardener widens the path to allow the wheelbarrow through.
Passé composé
Completed past events, using avoir or être plus a past participle.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | ai élargi | I widened | |
| tu | as élargi | you widened | |
| il / elle / on | a élargi | he / she / it widenedon: we widened / one widened | |
| nous | avons élargi | we widened | |
| vous | avez élargi | you widened | |
| ils / elles | ont élargi | they widened |
IN A SENTENCEPassé composé example
Hier, le jardinier a élargi l'allée pour laisser passer la brouette.
Yesterday, the gardener widened the path to allow the wheelbarrow through.
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’ | élargissais | I used to widen | |
| tu | élargissais | you used to widen | |
| il / elle / on | élargissait | he / she / it used to widenon: we used to widen / one used to widen | |
| nous | élargissions | we used to widen | |
| vous | élargissiez | you used to widen | |
| ils / elles | élargissaient | they used to widen |
IN A SENTENCEImperfect example
Autrefois, le jardinier élargissait l'allée pour laisser passer la brouette.
Back then, the gardener used to widen the path to allow the wheelbarrow through.
Future Futur simple
Future events and predictions.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | élargirai | I will widen | |
| tu | élargiras | you will widen | |
| il / elle / on | élargira | he / she / it will widenon: we will widen / one will widen | |
| nous | élargirons | we will widen | |
| vous | élargirez | you will widen | |
| ils / elles | élargiront | they will widen |
IN A SENTENCEFuture example
Plus tard, le jardinier élargira l'allée pour laisser passer la brouette.
Later, the gardener will widen the path to allow the wheelbarrow through.
Conditional Conditionnel présent
Hypothetical events and polite requests.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | élargirais | I would widen | |
| tu | élargirais | you would widen | |
| il / elle / on | élargirait | he / she / it would widenon: we would widen / one would widen | |
| nous | élargirions | we would widen | |
| vous | élargiriez | you would widen | |
| ils / elles | élargiraient | they would widen |
IN A SENTENCEConditional example
Le jardinier élargirait l'allée pour laisser passer la brouette.
The gardener would widen the path to allow the wheelbarrow through.
Present subjunctive Subjonctif présent
Dependent clauses expressing wishes, necessity, doubt, and certain feelings.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | élargisse | (that) I widen | |
| tu | élargisses | (that) you widen | |
| il / elle / on | élargisse | (that) he / she / it widenson: (that) we widen / one widens | |
| nous | élargissions | (that) we widen | |
| vous | élargissiez | (that) you widen | |
| ils / elles | élargissent | (that) they widen |
IN A SENTENCEPresent subjunctive example
Il est possible que le jardinier élargisse l'allée pour laisser passer la brouette.
It is possible that the gardener widens the path to allow the wheelbarrow through.
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 enlarge, to make larger
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