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 prevent.”
Present Présent
Habits, current states, and actions happening now.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | empêche | I prevent | |
| tu | empêches | you prevent | |
| il / elle / on | empêche | he / she / it preventson: we prevent / one prevents | |
| nous | empêchons | we prevent | |
| vous | empêchez | you prevent | |
| ils / elles | empêchent | they prevent |
IN A SENTENCEPresent example
Paul empêche le chien de sortir.
Paul prevents the dog from going out.
Passé composé
Completed past events, using avoir or être plus a past participle.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | ai empêché | I prevented | |
| tu | as empêché | you prevented | |
| il / elle / on | a empêché | he / she / it preventedon: we prevented / one prevented | |
| nous | avons empêché | we prevented | |
| vous | avez empêché | you prevented | |
| ils / elles | ont empêché | they prevented |
IN A SENTENCEPassé composé example
Hier, Paul a empêché le chien de sortir.
Yesterday, Paul prevented the dog from going out.
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’ | empêchais | I used to prevent | |
| tu | empêchais | you used to prevent | |
| il / elle / on | empêchait | he / she / it used to preventon: we used to prevent / one used to prevent | |
| nous | empêchions | we used to prevent | |
| vous | empêchiez | you used to prevent | |
| ils / elles | empêchaient | they used to prevent |
IN A SENTENCEImperfect example
Autrefois, Paul empêchait le chien de sortir.
Back then, Paul used to prevent the dog from going out.
Future Futur simple
Future events and predictions.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | empêcherai | I will prevent | |
| tu | empêcheras | you will prevent | |
| il / elle / on | empêchera | he / she / it will preventon: we will prevent / one will prevent | |
| nous | empêcherons | we will prevent | |
| vous | empêcherez | you will prevent | |
| ils / elles | empêcheront | they will prevent |
IN A SENTENCEFuture example
Plus tard, Paul empêchera le chien de sortir.
Later, Paul will prevent the dog from going out.
Conditional Conditionnel présent
Hypothetical events and polite requests.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | empêcherais | I would prevent | |
| tu | empêcherais | you would prevent | |
| il / elle / on | empêcherait | he / she / it would preventon: we would prevent / one would prevent | |
| nous | empêcherions | we would prevent | |
| vous | empêcheriez | you would prevent | |
| ils / elles | empêcheraient | they would prevent |
IN A SENTENCEConditional example
Paul empêcherait le chien de sortir.
Paul would prevent the dog from going out.
Present subjunctive Subjonctif présent
Dependent clauses expressing wishes, necessity, doubt, and certain feelings.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | empêche | (that) I prevent | |
| tu | empêches | (that) you prevent | |
| il / elle / on | empêche | (that) he / she / it preventson: (that) we prevent / one prevents | |
| nous | empêchions | (that) we prevent | |
| vous | empêchiez | (that) you prevent | |
| ils / elles | empêchent | (that) they prevent |
IN A SENTENCEPresent subjunctive example
Il est possible que Paul empêche le chien de sortir.
It is possible that Paul prevents the dog from going out.
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 stop; to prevent; to hinder
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