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 undertake.”
Present Présent
Habits, current states, and actions happening now.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | entreprends | I undertake | |
| tu | entreprends | you undertake | |
| il / elle / on | entreprend | he / she / it undertakeson: we undertake / one undertakes | |
| nous | entreprenons | we undertake | |
| vous | entreprenez | you undertake | |
| ils / elles | entreprennent | they undertake |
IN A SENTENCEPresent example
Paul entreprend des travaux dans sa maison.
Paul undertakes renovations in his house.
Passé composé
Completed past events, using avoir or être plus a past participle.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | ai entrepris | I undertook | |
| tu | as entrepris | you undertook | |
| il / elle / on | a entrepris | he / she / it undertookon: we undertook / one undertook | |
| nous | avons entrepris | we undertook | |
| vous | avez entrepris | you undertook | |
| ils / elles | ont entrepris | they undertook |
IN A SENTENCEPassé composé example
Hier, Paul a entrepris des travaux dans sa maison.
Yesterday, Paul undertook renovations in his house.
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’ | entreprenais | I used to undertake | |
| tu | entreprenais | you used to undertake | |
| il / elle / on | entreprenait | he / she / it used to undertakeon: we used to undertake / one used to undertake | |
| nous | entreprenions | we used to undertake | |
| vous | entrepreniez | you used to undertake | |
| ils / elles | entreprenaient | they used to undertake |
IN A SENTENCEImperfect example
Autrefois, Paul entreprenait des travaux dans sa maison.
Back then, Paul used to undertake renovations in his house.
Future Futur simple
Future events and predictions.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | entreprendrai | I will undertake | |
| tu | entreprendras | you will undertake | |
| il / elle / on | entreprendra | he / she / it will undertakeon: we will undertake / one will undertake | |
| nous | entreprendrons | we will undertake | |
| vous | entreprendrez | you will undertake | |
| ils / elles | entreprendront | they will undertake |
IN A SENTENCEFuture example
Plus tard, Paul entreprendra des travaux dans sa maison.
Later, Paul will undertake renovations in his house.
Conditional Conditionnel présent
Hypothetical events and polite requests.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | entreprendrais | I would undertake | |
| tu | entreprendrais | you would undertake | |
| il / elle / on | entreprendrait | he / she / it would undertakeon: we would undertake / one would undertake | |
| nous | entreprendrions | we would undertake | |
| vous | entreprendriez | you would undertake | |
| ils / elles | entreprendraient | they would undertake |
IN A SENTENCEConditional example
Paul entreprendrait des travaux dans sa maison.
Paul would undertake renovations in his house.
Present subjunctive Subjonctif présent
Dependent clauses expressing wishes, necessity, doubt, and certain feelings.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | entreprenne | (that) I undertake | |
| tu | entreprennes | (that) you undertake | |
| il / elle / on | entreprenne | (that) he / she / it undertakeson: (that) we undertake / one undertakes | |
| nous | entreprenions | (that) we undertake | |
| vous | entrepreniez | (that) you undertake | |
| ils / elles | entreprennent | (that) they undertake |
IN A SENTENCEPresent subjunctive example
Il est possible que Paul entreprenne des travaux dans sa maison.
It is possible that Paul undertakes renovations in his house.
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 undertake
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