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 be.”
Present Présent
Habits, current states, and actions happening now.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | suis | I am | |
| tu | es | you are | |
| il / elle / on | est | he / she / it ison: we are / one is | |
| nous | sommes | we are | |
| vous | êtes | you are | |
| ils / elles | sont | they are |
IN A SENTENCEPresent example
Paul est prêt pour le voyage.
Paul is ready for the trip.
Passé composé
Completed past events, using avoir or être plus a past participle.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | ai été | I was | |
| tu | as été | you were | |
| il / elle / on | a été | he / she / it wason: we were / one was | |
| nous | avons été | we were | |
| vous | avez été | you were | |
| ils / elles | ont été | they were |
IN A SENTENCEPassé composé example
Hier, Paul a été très patient.
Yesterday, Paul was very patient.
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’ | étais | I was | |
| tu | étais | you were | |
| il / elle / on | était | he / she / it wason: we were / one was | |
| nous | étions | we were | |
| vous | étiez | you were | |
| ils / elles | étaient | they were |
IN A SENTENCEImperfect example
Autrefois, Paul était timide.
Back then, Paul was shy.
Future Futur simple
Future events and predictions.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | serai | I will be | |
| tu | seras | you will be | |
| il / elle / on | sera | he / she / it will beon: we will be / one will be | |
| nous | serons | we will be | |
| vous | serez | you will be | |
| ils / elles | seront | they will be |
IN A SENTENCEFuture example
Demain, Paul sera à Paris.
Tomorrow, Paul will be in Paris.
Conditional Conditionnel présent
Hypothetical events and polite requests.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | serais | I would be | |
| tu | serais | you would be | |
| il / elle / on | serait | he / she / it would beon: we would be / one would be | |
| nous | serions | we would be | |
| vous | seriez | you would be | |
| ils / elles | seraient | they would be |
IN A SENTENCEConditional example
Avec son sac, Paul serait prêt à partir.
With his bag, Paul would be ready to leave.
Present subjunctive Subjonctif présent
Dependent clauses expressing wishes, necessity, doubt, and certain feelings.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | sois | (that) I am | |
| tu | sois | (that) you are | |
| il / elle / on | soit | (that) he / she / it ison: (that) we are / one is | |
| nous | soyons | (that) we are | |
| vous | soyez | (that) you are | |
| ils / elles | soient | (that) they are |
IN A SENTENCEPresent subjunctive example
Il est possible que Paul soit déjà à la gare.
Paul may already be at the station.
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 be
- to be located; to be situated
- to denote time, day, or date
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