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 circle.”
Present Présent
Habits, current states, and actions happening now.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | entoure | I circle | |
| tu | entoures | you circle | |
| il / elle / on | entoure | he / she / it circleson: we circle / one circles | |
| nous | entourons | we circle | |
| vous | entourez | you circle | |
| ils / elles | entourent | they circle |
IN A SENTENCEPresent example
Paul entoure la bonne réponse au crayon.
Paul circles the correct answer in pencil.
Passé composé
Completed past events, using avoir or être plus a past participle.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | ai entouré | I circled | |
| tu | as entouré | you circled | |
| il / elle / on | a entouré | he / she / it circledon: we circled / one circled | |
| nous | avons entouré | we circled | |
| vous | avez entouré | you circled | |
| ils / elles | ont entouré | they circled |
IN A SENTENCEPassé composé example
Hier, Paul a entouré la bonne réponse au crayon.
Yesterday, Paul circled the correct answer in pencil.
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’ | entourais | I used to circle | |
| tu | entourais | you used to circle | |
| il / elle / on | entourait | he / she / it used to circleon: we used to circle / one used to circle | |
| nous | entourions | we used to circle | |
| vous | entouriez | you used to circle | |
| ils / elles | entouraient | they used to circle |
IN A SENTENCEImperfect example
Autrefois, Paul entourait la bonne réponse au crayon.
Back then, Paul used to circle the correct answer in pencil.
Future Futur simple
Future events and predictions.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | entourerai | I will circle | |
| tu | entoureras | you will circle | |
| il / elle / on | entourera | he / she / it will circleon: we will circle / one will circle | |
| nous | entourerons | we will circle | |
| vous | entourerez | you will circle | |
| ils / elles | entoureront | they will circle |
IN A SENTENCEFuture example
Plus tard, Paul entourera la bonne réponse au crayon.
Later, Paul will circle the correct answer in pencil.
Conditional Conditionnel présent
Hypothetical events and polite requests.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | entourerais | I would circle | |
| tu | entourerais | you would circle | |
| il / elle / on | entourerait | he / she / it would circleon: we would circle / one would circle | |
| nous | entourerions | we would circle | |
| vous | entoureriez | you would circle | |
| ils / elles | entoureraient | they would circle |
IN A SENTENCEConditional example
Paul entourerait la bonne réponse au crayon.
Paul would circle the correct answer in pencil.
Present subjunctive Subjonctif présent
Dependent clauses expressing wishes, necessity, doubt, and certain feelings.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | entoure | (that) I circle | |
| tu | entoures | (that) you circle | |
| il / elle / on | entoure | (that) he / she / it circleson: (that) we circle / one circles | |
| nous | entourions | (that) we circle | |
| vous | entouriez | (that) you circle | |
| ils / elles | entourent | (that) they circle |
IN A SENTENCEPresent subjunctive example
Il est possible que Paul entoure la bonne réponse au crayon.
It is possible that Paul circles the correct answer in pencil.
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 surround
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