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 save.”
Present Présent
Habits, current states, and actions happening now.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | épargne | I save | |
| tu | épargnes | you save | |
| il / elle / on | épargne | he / she / it saveson: we save / one saves | |
| nous | épargnons | we save | |
| vous | épargnez | you save | |
| ils / elles | épargnent | they save |
IN A SENTENCEPresent example
Paul épargne une partie de son salaire.
Paul saves part of his salary.
Passé composé
Completed past events, using avoir or être plus a past participle.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | ai épargné | I saved | |
| tu | as épargné | you saved | |
| il / elle / on | a épargné | he / she / it savedon: we saved / one saved | |
| nous | avons épargné | we saved | |
| vous | avez épargné | you saved | |
| ils / elles | ont épargné | they saved |
IN A SENTENCEPassé composé example
Hier, Paul a épargné une partie de son salaire.
Yesterday, Paul saved part of his salary.
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’ | épargnais | I used to save | |
| tu | épargnais | you used to save | |
| il / elle / on | épargnait | he / she / it used to saveon: we used to save / one used to save | |
| nous | épargnions | we used to save | |
| vous | épargniez | you used to save | |
| ils / elles | épargnaient | they used to save |
IN A SENTENCEImperfect example
Autrefois, Paul épargnait une partie de son salaire.
Back then, Paul used to save part of his salary.
Future Futur simple
Future events and predictions.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | épargnerai | I will save | |
| tu | épargneras | you will save | |
| il / elle / on | épargnera | he / she / it will saveon: we will save / one will save | |
| nous | épargnerons | we will save | |
| vous | épargnerez | you will save | |
| ils / elles | épargneront | they will save |
IN A SENTENCEFuture example
Plus tard, Paul épargnera une partie de son salaire.
Later, Paul will save part of his salary.
Conditional Conditionnel présent
Hypothetical events and polite requests.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | épargnerais | I would save | |
| tu | épargnerais | you would save | |
| il / elle / on | épargnerait | he / she / it would saveon: we would save / one would save | |
| nous | épargnerions | we would save | |
| vous | épargneriez | you would save | |
| ils / elles | épargneraient | they would save |
IN A SENTENCEConditional example
Paul épargnerait une partie de son salaire.
Paul would save part of his salary.
Present subjunctive Subjonctif présent
Dependent clauses expressing wishes, necessity, doubt, and certain feelings.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | épargne | (that) I save | |
| tu | épargnes | (that) you save | |
| il / elle / on | épargne | (that) he / she / it saveson: (that) we save / one saves | |
| nous | épargnions | (that) we save | |
| vous | épargniez | (that) you save | |
| ils / elles | épargnent | (that) they save |
IN A SENTENCEPresent subjunctive example
Il est possible que Paul épargne une partie de son salaire.
It is possible that Paul saves part of his salary.
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 save (time, money etc.)
- to save, spare (someone from something)
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