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 estimate.”
Present Présent
Habits, current states, and actions happening now.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | estime | I estimate | |
| tu | estimes | you estimate | |
| il / elle / on | estime | he / she / it estimateson: we estimate / one estimates | |
| nous | estimons | we estimate | |
| vous | estimez | you estimate | |
| ils / elles | estiment | they estimate |
IN A SENTENCEPresent example
Paul estime la durée du trajet.
Paul estimates the length of the journey.
Passé composé
Completed past events, using avoir or être plus a past participle.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | ai estimé | I estimated | |
| tu | as estimé | you estimated | |
| il / elle / on | a estimé | he / she / it estimatedon: we estimated / one estimated | |
| nous | avons estimé | we estimated | |
| vous | avez estimé | you estimated | |
| ils / elles | ont estimé | they estimated |
IN A SENTENCEPassé composé example
Hier, Paul a estimé la durée du trajet.
Yesterday, Paul estimated the length of the journey.
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’ | estimais | I used to estimate | |
| tu | estimais | you used to estimate | |
| il / elle / on | estimait | he / she / it used to estimateon: we used to estimate / one used to estimate | |
| nous | estimions | we used to estimate | |
| vous | estimiez | you used to estimate | |
| ils / elles | estimaient | they used to estimate |
IN A SENTENCEImperfect example
Autrefois, Paul estimait la durée du trajet.
Back then, Paul used to estimate the length of the journey.
Future Futur simple
Future events and predictions.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | estimerai | I will estimate | |
| tu | estimeras | you will estimate | |
| il / elle / on | estimera | he / she / it will estimateon: we will estimate / one will estimate | |
| nous | estimerons | we will estimate | |
| vous | estimerez | you will estimate | |
| ils / elles | estimeront | they will estimate |
IN A SENTENCEFuture example
Plus tard, Paul estimera la durée du trajet.
Later, Paul will estimate the length of the journey.
Conditional Conditionnel présent
Hypothetical events and polite requests.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | estimerais | I would estimate | |
| tu | estimerais | you would estimate | |
| il / elle / on | estimerait | he / she / it would estimateon: we would estimate / one would estimate | |
| nous | estimerions | we would estimate | |
| vous | estimeriez | you would estimate | |
| ils / elles | estimeraient | they would estimate |
IN A SENTENCEConditional example
Paul estimerait la durée du trajet.
Paul would estimate the length of the journey.
Present subjunctive Subjonctif présent
Dependent clauses expressing wishes, necessity, doubt, and certain feelings.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | estime | (that) I estimate | |
| tu | estimes | (that) you estimate | |
| il / elle / on | estime | (that) he / she / it estimateson: (that) we estimate / one estimates | |
| nous | estimions | (that) we estimate | |
| vous | estimiez | (that) you estimate | |
| ils / elles | estiment | (that) they estimate |
IN A SENTENCEPresent subjunctive example
Il est possible que Paul estime la durée du trajet.
It is possible that Paul estimates the length of the journey.
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 estimate, to calculate roughly
- to esteem, to hold in high regard
- to give some thought to, to consider
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