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 test.”
Present Présent
Habits, current states, and actions happening now.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | éprouve | I test | |
| tu | éprouves | you test | |
| il / elle / on | éprouve | he / she / it testson: we test / one tests | |
| nous | éprouvons | we test | |
| vous | éprouvez | you test | |
| ils / elles | éprouvent | they test |
IN A SENTENCEPresent example
Paul éprouve la solidité de la corde.
Paul tests the strength of the rope.
Passé composé
Completed past events, using avoir or être plus a past participle.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | ai éprouvé | I tested | |
| tu | as éprouvé | you tested | |
| il / elle / on | a éprouvé | he / she / it testedon: we tested / one tested | |
| nous | avons éprouvé | we tested | |
| vous | avez éprouvé | you tested | |
| ils / elles | ont éprouvé | they tested |
IN A SENTENCEPassé composé example
Hier, Paul a éprouvé la solidité de la corde.
Yesterday, Paul tested the strength of the rope.
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’ | éprouvais | I used to test | |
| tu | éprouvais | you used to test | |
| il / elle / on | éprouvait | he / she / it used to teston: we used to test / one used to test | |
| nous | éprouvions | we used to test | |
| vous | éprouviez | you used to test | |
| ils / elles | éprouvaient | they used to test |
IN A SENTENCEImperfect example
Autrefois, Paul éprouvait la solidité de la corde.
Back then, Paul used to test the strength of the rope.
Future Futur simple
Future events and predictions.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | éprouverai | I will test | |
| tu | éprouveras | you will test | |
| il / elle / on | éprouvera | he / she / it will teston: we will test / one will test | |
| nous | éprouverons | we will test | |
| vous | éprouverez | you will test | |
| ils / elles | éprouveront | they will test |
IN A SENTENCEFuture example
Plus tard, Paul éprouvera la solidité de la corde.
Later, Paul will test the strength of the rope.
Conditional Conditionnel présent
Hypothetical events and polite requests.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | éprouverais | I would test | |
| tu | éprouverais | you would test | |
| il / elle / on | éprouverait | he / she / it would teston: we would test / one would test | |
| nous | éprouverions | we would test | |
| vous | éprouveriez | you would test | |
| ils / elles | éprouveraient | they would test |
IN A SENTENCEConditional example
Paul éprouverait la solidité de la corde.
Paul would test the strength of the rope.
Present subjunctive Subjonctif présent
Dependent clauses expressing wishes, necessity, doubt, and certain feelings.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | éprouve | (that) I test | |
| tu | éprouves | (that) you test | |
| il / elle / on | éprouve | (that) he / she / it testson: (that) we test / one tests | |
| nous | éprouvions | (that) we test | |
| vous | éprouviez | (that) you test | |
| ils / elles | éprouvent | (that) they test |
IN A SENTENCEPresent subjunctive example
Il est possible que Paul éprouve la solidité de la corde.
It is possible that Paul tests the strength of the rope.
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 put to the test, test, try
- to feel, experience
- to experience, go through
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