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 marry.”
Present Présent
Habits, current states, and actions happening now.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | épouse | I marry | |
| tu | épouses | you marry | |
| il / elle / on | épouse | he / she / it marrieson: we marry / one marries | |
| nous | épousons | we marry | |
| vous | épousez | you marry | |
| ils / elles | épousent | they marry |
IN A SENTENCEPresent example
Le prince épouse son amie dans ce conte.
The prince marries his friend in this fairy tale.
Passé composé
Completed past events, using avoir or être plus a past participle.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | ai épousé | I married | |
| tu | as épousé | you married | |
| il / elle / on | a épousé | he / she / it marriedon: we married / one married | |
| nous | avons épousé | we married | |
| vous | avez épousé | you married | |
| ils / elles | ont épousé | they married |
IN A SENTENCEPassé composé example
Hier, le prince a épousé son amie dans ce conte.
Yesterday, the prince married his friend in this fairy tale.
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’ | épousais | I used to marry | |
| tu | épousais | you used to marry | |
| il / elle / on | épousait | he / she / it used to marryon: we used to marry / one used to marry | |
| nous | épousions | we used to marry | |
| vous | épousiez | you used to marry | |
| ils / elles | épousaient | they used to marry |
IN A SENTENCEImperfect example
Autrefois, le prince épousait son amie dans ce conte.
Back then, the prince used to marry his friend in this fairy tale.
Future Futur simple
Future events and predictions.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | épouserai | I will marry | |
| tu | épouseras | you will marry | |
| il / elle / on | épousera | he / she / it will marryon: we will marry / one will marry | |
| nous | épouserons | we will marry | |
| vous | épouserez | you will marry | |
| ils / elles | épouseront | they will marry |
IN A SENTENCEFuture example
Plus tard, le prince épousera son amie dans ce conte.
Later, the prince will marry his friend in this fairy tale.
Conditional Conditionnel présent
Hypothetical events and polite requests.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | épouserais | I would marry | |
| tu | épouserais | you would marry | |
| il / elle / on | épouserait | he / she / it would marryon: we would marry / one would marry | |
| nous | épouserions | we would marry | |
| vous | épouseriez | you would marry | |
| ils / elles | épouseraient | they would marry |
IN A SENTENCEConditional example
Le prince épouserait son amie dans ce conte.
The prince would marry his friend in this fairy tale.
Present subjunctive Subjonctif présent
Dependent clauses expressing wishes, necessity, doubt, and certain feelings.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | épouse | (that) I marry | |
| tu | épouses | (that) you marry | |
| il / elle / on | épouse | (that) he / she / it marrieson: (that) we marry / one marries | |
| nous | épousions | (that) we marry | |
| vous | épousiez | (that) you marry | |
| ils / elles | épousent | (that) they marry |
IN A SENTENCEPresent subjunctive example
Il est possible que le prince épouse son amie dans ce conte.
It is possible that the prince marries his friend in this fairy tale.
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 marry, to wed
- to cling to, hug (of tight clothes etc.)
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