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 glimpse.”
Present Présent
Habits, current states, and actions happening now.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | entrevois | I glimpse | |
| tu | entrevois | you glimpse | |
| il / elle / on | entrevoit | he / she / it glimpseson: we glimpse / one glimpses | |
| nous | entrevoyons | we glimpse | |
| vous | entrevoyez | you glimpse | |
| ils / elles | entrevoient | they glimpse |
IN A SENTENCEPresent example
Paul entrevoit le lac entre les arbres.
Paul glimpses the lake between the trees.
Passé composé
Completed past events, using avoir or être plus a past participle.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | ai entrevu | I glimpsed | |
| tu | as entrevu | you glimpsed | |
| il / elle / on | a entrevu | he / she / it glimpsedon: we glimpsed / one glimpsed | |
| nous | avons entrevu | we glimpsed | |
| vous | avez entrevu | you glimpsed | |
| ils / elles | ont entrevu | they glimpsed |
IN A SENTENCEPassé composé example
Hier, Paul a entrevu le lac entre les arbres.
Yesterday, Paul glimpsed the lake between the trees.
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’ | entrevoyais | I used to glimpse | |
| tu | entrevoyais | you used to glimpse | |
| il / elle / on | entrevoyait | he / she / it used to glimpseon: we used to glimpse / one used to glimpse | |
| nous | entrevoyions | we used to glimpse | |
| vous | entrevoyiez | you used to glimpse | |
| ils / elles | entrevoyaient | they used to glimpse |
IN A SENTENCEImperfect example
Autrefois, Paul entrevoyait le lac entre les arbres.
Back then, Paul used to glimpse the lake between the trees.
Future Futur simple
Future events and predictions.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | entreverrai | I will glimpse | |
| tu | entreverras | you will glimpse | |
| il / elle / on | entreverra | he / she / it will glimpseon: we will glimpse / one will glimpse | |
| nous | entreverrons | we will glimpse | |
| vous | entreverrez | you will glimpse | |
| ils / elles | entreverront | they will glimpse |
IN A SENTENCEFuture example
Plus tard, Paul entreverra le lac entre les arbres.
Later, Paul will glimpse the lake between the trees.
Conditional Conditionnel présent
Hypothetical events and polite requests.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | entreverrais | I would glimpse | |
| tu | entreverrais | you would glimpse | |
| il / elle / on | entreverrait | he / she / it would glimpseon: we would glimpse / one would glimpse | |
| nous | entreverrions | we would glimpse | |
| vous | entreverriez | you would glimpse | |
| ils / elles | entreverraient | they would glimpse |
IN A SENTENCEConditional example
Paul entreverrait le lac entre les arbres.
Paul would glimpse the lake between the trees.
Present subjunctive Subjonctif présent
Dependent clauses expressing wishes, necessity, doubt, and certain feelings.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | entrevoie | (that) I glimpse | |
| tu | entrevoies | (that) you glimpse | |
| il / elle / on | entrevoie | (that) he / she / it glimpseson: (that) we glimpse / one glimpses | |
| nous | entrevoyions | (that) we glimpse | |
| vous | entrevoyiez | (that) you glimpse | |
| ils / elles | entrevoient | (that) they glimpse |
IN A SENTENCEPresent subjunctive example
Il est possible que Paul entrevoie le lac entre les arbres.
It is possible that Paul glimpses the lake between the trees.
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 make out, see vaguely; to glimpse
- to foresee, anticipate
- to catch sight of, see briefly
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