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 raise.”
Present Présent
Habits, current states, and actions happening now.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | élève | I raise | |
| tu | élèves | you raise | |
| il / elle / on | élève | he / she / it raiseson: we raise / one raises | |
| nous | élevons | we raise | |
| vous | élevez | you raise | |
| ils / elles | élèvent | they raise |
IN A SENTENCEPresent example
Le fermier élève des poules dans sa ferme.
The farmer raises hens on his farm.
Passé composé
Completed past events, using avoir or être plus a past participle.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | ai élevé | I raised | |
| tu | as élevé | you raised | |
| il / elle / on | a élevé | he / she / it raisedon: we raised / one raised | |
| nous | avons élevé | we raised | |
| vous | avez élevé | you raised | |
| ils / elles | ont élevé | they raised |
IN A SENTENCEPassé composé example
Hier, le fermier a élevé des poules dans sa ferme.
Yesterday, the farmer raised hens on his farm.
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’ | élevais | I used to raise | |
| tu | élevais | you used to raise | |
| il / elle / on | élevait | he / she / it used to raiseon: we used to raise / one used to raise | |
| nous | élevions | we used to raise | |
| vous | éleviez | you used to raise | |
| ils / elles | élevaient | they used to raise |
IN A SENTENCEImperfect example
Autrefois, le fermier élevait des poules dans sa ferme.
Back then, the farmer used to raise hens on his farm.
Future Futur simple
Future events and predictions.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | élèverai | I will raise | |
| tu | élèveras | you will raise | |
| il / elle / on | élèvera | he / she / it will raiseon: we will raise / one will raise | |
| nous | élèverons | we will raise | |
| vous | élèverez | you will raise | |
| ils / elles | élèveront | they will raise |
IN A SENTENCEFuture example
Plus tard, le fermier élèvera des poules dans sa ferme.
Later, the farmer will raise hens on his farm.
Conditional Conditionnel présent
Hypothetical events and polite requests.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | élèverais | I would raise | |
| tu | élèverais | you would raise | |
| il / elle / on | élèverait | he / she / it would raiseon: we would raise / one would raise | |
| nous | élèverions | we would raise | |
| vous | élèveriez | you would raise | |
| ils / elles | élèveraient | they would raise |
IN A SENTENCEConditional example
Le fermier élèverait des poules dans sa ferme.
The farmer would raise hens on his farm.
Present subjunctive Subjonctif présent
Dependent clauses expressing wishes, necessity, doubt, and certain feelings.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | élève | (that) I raise | |
| tu | élèves | (that) you raise | |
| il / elle / on | élève | (that) he / she / it raiseson: (that) we raise / one raises | |
| nous | élevions | (that) we raise | |
| vous | éleviez | (that) you raise | |
| ils / elles | élèvent | (that) they raise |
IN A SENTENCEPresent subjunctive example
Il est possible que le fermier élève des poules dans sa ferme.
It is possible that the farmer raises hens on his farm.
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 raise
- to bring up
- to raise a number to a certain power
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