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 study.”
Present Présent
Habits, current states, and actions happening now.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | étudie | I study | |
| tu | étudies | you study | |
| il / elle / on | étudie | he / she / it studieson: we study / one studies | |
| nous | étudions | we study | |
| vous | étudiez | you study | |
| ils / elles | étudient | they study |
IN A SENTENCEPresent example
Paul étudie l'histoire de France.
Paul studies French history.
Passé composé
Completed past events, using avoir or être plus a past participle.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | ai étudié | I studied | |
| tu | as étudié | you studied | |
| il / elle / on | a étudié | he / she / it studiedon: we studied / one studied | |
| nous | avons étudié | we studied | |
| vous | avez étudié | you studied | |
| ils / elles | ont étudié | they studied |
IN A SENTENCEPassé composé example
Hier, Paul a étudié l'histoire de France.
Yesterday, Paul studied French history.
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’ | étudiais | I used to study | |
| tu | étudiais | you used to study | |
| il / elle / on | étudiait | he / she / it used to studyon: we used to study / one used to study | |
| nous | étudiions | we used to study | |
| vous | étudiiez | you used to study | |
| ils / elles | étudiaient | they used to study |
IN A SENTENCEImperfect example
Autrefois, Paul étudiait l'histoire de France.
Back then, Paul used to study French history.
Future Futur simple
Future events and predictions.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | étudierai | I will study | |
| tu | étudieras | you will study | |
| il / elle / on | étudiera | he / she / it will studyon: we will study / one will study | |
| nous | étudierons | we will study | |
| vous | étudierez | you will study | |
| ils / elles | étudieront | they will study |
IN A SENTENCEFuture example
Plus tard, Paul étudiera l'histoire de France.
Later, Paul will study French history.
Conditional Conditionnel présent
Hypothetical events and polite requests.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | étudierais | I would study | |
| tu | étudierais | you would study | |
| il / elle / on | étudierait | he / she / it would studyon: we would study / one would study | |
| nous | étudierions | we would study | |
| vous | étudieriez | you would study | |
| ils / elles | étudieraient | they would study |
IN A SENTENCEConditional example
Paul étudierait l'histoire de France.
Paul would study French history.
Present subjunctive Subjonctif présent
Dependent clauses expressing wishes, necessity, doubt, and certain feelings.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | étudie | (that) I study | |
| tu | étudies | (that) you study | |
| il / elle / on | étudie | (that) he / she / it studieson: (that) we study / one studies | |
| nous | étudiions | (that) we study | |
| vous | étudiiez | (that) you study | |
| ils / elles | étudient | (that) they study |
IN A SENTENCEPresent subjunctive example
Il est possible que Paul étudie l'histoire de France.
It is possible that Paul studies French history.
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 study
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