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 cut into.”
Present Présent
Habits, current states, and actions happening now.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | entame | I cut into | |
| tu | entames | you cut into | |
| il / elle / on | entame | he / she / it cuts intoon: we cut into / one cuts into | |
| nous | entamons | we cut into | |
| vous | entamez | you cut into | |
| ils / elles | entament | they cut into |
IN A SENTENCEPresent example
Paul entame le gâteau au chocolat.
Paul cuts into the chocolate cake.
Passé composé
Completed past events, using avoir or être plus a past participle.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | ai entamé | I cut into | |
| tu | as entamé | you cut into | |
| il / elle / on | a entamé | he / she / it cut intoon: we cut into / one cut into | |
| nous | avons entamé | we cut into | |
| vous | avez entamé | you cut into | |
| ils / elles | ont entamé | they cut into |
IN A SENTENCEPassé composé example
Hier, Paul a entamé le gâteau au chocolat.
Yesterday, Paul cut into the chocolate cake.
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’ | entamais | I used to cut into | |
| tu | entamais | you used to cut into | |
| il / elle / on | entamait | he / she / it used to cut intoon: we used to cut into / one used to cut into | |
| nous | entamions | we used to cut into | |
| vous | entamiez | you used to cut into | |
| ils / elles | entamaient | they used to cut into |
IN A SENTENCEImperfect example
Autrefois, Paul entamait le gâteau au chocolat.
Back then, Paul used to cut into the chocolate cake.
Future Futur simple
Future events and predictions.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | entamerai | I will cut into | |
| tu | entameras | you will cut into | |
| il / elle / on | entamera | he / she / it will cut intoon: we will cut into / one will cut into | |
| nous | entamerons | we will cut into | |
| vous | entamerez | you will cut into | |
| ils / elles | entameront | they will cut into |
IN A SENTENCEFuture example
Plus tard, Paul entamera le gâteau au chocolat.
Later, Paul will cut into the chocolate cake.
Conditional Conditionnel présent
Hypothetical events and polite requests.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | entamerais | I would cut into | |
| tu | entamerais | you would cut into | |
| il / elle / on | entamerait | he / she / it would cut intoon: we would cut into / one would cut into | |
| nous | entamerions | we would cut into | |
| vous | entameriez | you would cut into | |
| ils / elles | entameraient | they would cut into |
IN A SENTENCEConditional example
Paul entamerait le gâteau au chocolat.
Paul would cut into the chocolate cake.
Present subjunctive Subjonctif présent
Dependent clauses expressing wishes, necessity, doubt, and certain feelings.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | entame | (that) I cut into | |
| tu | entames | (that) you cut into | |
| il / elle / on | entame | (that) he / she / it cuts intoon: (that) we cut into / one cuts into | |
| nous | entamions | (that) we cut into | |
| vous | entamiez | (that) you cut into | |
| ils / elles | entament | (that) they cut into |
IN A SENTENCEPresent subjunctive example
Il est possible que Paul entame le gâteau au chocolat.
It is possible that Paul cuts into the chocolate cake.
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 cut into (something)
- to remove a small piece of something
- to lead (play the first card)
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