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 bury.”
Present Présent
Habits, current states, and actions happening now.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | enterre | I bury | |
| tu | enterres | you bury | |
| il / elle / on | enterre | he / she / it burieson: we bury / one buries | |
| nous | enterrons | we bury | |
| vous | enterrez | you bury | |
| ils / elles | enterrent | they bury |
IN A SENTENCEPresent example
Paul enterre une boîte dans le jardin.
Paul buries a box in the garden.
Passé composé
Completed past events, using avoir or être plus a past participle.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | ai enterré | I buried | |
| tu | as enterré | you buried | |
| il / elle / on | a enterré | he / she / it buriedon: we buried / one buried | |
| nous | avons enterré | we buried | |
| vous | avez enterré | you buried | |
| ils / elles | ont enterré | they buried |
IN A SENTENCEPassé composé example
Hier, Paul a enterré une boîte dans le jardin.
Yesterday, Paul buried a box in the garden.
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’ | enterrais | I used to bury | |
| tu | enterrais | you used to bury | |
| il / elle / on | enterrait | he / she / it used to buryon: we used to bury / one used to bury | |
| nous | enterrions | we used to bury | |
| vous | enterriez | you used to bury | |
| ils / elles | enterraient | they used to bury |
IN A SENTENCEImperfect example
Autrefois, Paul enterrait une boîte dans le jardin.
Back then, Paul used to bury a box in the garden.
Future Futur simple
Future events and predictions.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | enterrerai | I will bury | |
| tu | enterreras | you will bury | |
| il / elle / on | enterrera | he / she / it will buryon: we will bury / one will bury | |
| nous | enterrerons | we will bury | |
| vous | enterrerez | you will bury | |
| ils / elles | enterreront | they will bury |
IN A SENTENCEFuture example
Plus tard, Paul enterrera une boîte dans le jardin.
Later, Paul will bury a box in the garden.
Conditional Conditionnel présent
Hypothetical events and polite requests.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | enterrerais | I would bury | |
| tu | enterrerais | you would bury | |
| il / elle / on | enterrerait | he / she / it would buryon: we would bury / one would bury | |
| nous | enterrerions | we would bury | |
| vous | enterreriez | you would bury | |
| ils / elles | enterreraient | they would bury |
IN A SENTENCEConditional example
Paul enterrerait une boîte dans le jardin.
Paul would bury a box in the garden.
Present subjunctive Subjonctif présent
Dependent clauses expressing wishes, necessity, doubt, and certain feelings.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | enterre | (that) I bury | |
| tu | enterres | (that) you bury | |
| il / elle / on | enterre | (that) he / she / it burieson: (that) we bury / one buries | |
| nous | enterrions | (that) we bury | |
| vous | enterriez | (that) you bury | |
| ils / elles | enterrent | (that) they bury |
IN A SENTENCEPresent subjunctive example
Il est possible que Paul enterre une boîte dans le jardin.
It is possible that Paul buries a box in the garden.
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 bury (put underground); to inter
- to ditch, to bury (a plan, a memory, a legislative proposal, etc.)
- to outlive, to survive (someone)
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