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 develop.”
Present Présent
Habits, current states, and actions happening now.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | évolue | I develop | |
| tu | évolues | you develop | |
| il / elle / on | évolue | he / she / it developson: we develop / one develops | |
| nous | évoluons | we develop | |
| vous | évoluez | you develop | |
| ils / elles | évoluent | they develop |
IN A SENTENCEPresent example
Le projet évolue rapidement.
The project develops quickly.
Passé composé
Completed past events, using avoir or être plus a past participle.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | ai évolué | I developed | |
| tu | as évolué | you developed | |
| il / elle / on | a évolué | he / she / it developedon: we developed / one developed | |
| nous | avons évolué | we developed | |
| vous | avez évolué | you developed | |
| ils / elles | ont évolué | they developed |
IN A SENTENCEPassé composé example
Hier, le projet a évolué rapidement.
Yesterday, the project developed quickly.
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’ | évoluais | I used to develop | |
| tu | évoluais | you used to develop | |
| il / elle / on | évoluait | he / she / it used to developon: we used to develop / one used to develop | |
| nous | évoluions | we used to develop | |
| vous | évoluiez | you used to develop | |
| ils / elles | évoluaient | they used to develop |
IN A SENTENCEImperfect example
Autrefois, le projet évoluait rapidement.
Back then, the project used to develop quickly.
Future Futur simple
Future events and predictions.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | évoluerai | I will develop | |
| tu | évolueras | you will develop | |
| il / elle / on | évoluera | he / she / it will developon: we will develop / one will develop | |
| nous | évoluerons | we will develop | |
| vous | évoluerez | you will develop | |
| ils / elles | évolueront | they will develop |
IN A SENTENCEFuture example
Plus tard, le projet évoluera rapidement.
Later, the project will develop quickly.
Conditional Conditionnel présent
Hypothetical events and polite requests.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | évoluerais | I would develop | |
| tu | évoluerais | you would develop | |
| il / elle / on | évoluerait | he / she / it would developon: we would develop / one would develop | |
| nous | évoluerions | we would develop | |
| vous | évolueriez | you would develop | |
| ils / elles | évolueraient | they would develop |
IN A SENTENCEConditional example
Le projet évoluerait rapidement.
The project would develop quickly.
Present subjunctive Subjonctif présent
Dependent clauses expressing wishes, necessity, doubt, and certain feelings.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | évolue | (that) I develop | |
| tu | évolues | (that) you develop | |
| il / elle / on | évolue | (that) he / she / it developson: (that) we develop / one develops | |
| nous | évoluions | (that) we develop | |
| vous | évoluiez | (that) you develop | |
| ils / elles | évoluent | (that) they develop |
IN A SENTENCEPresent subjunctive example
Il est possible que le projet évolue rapidement.
It is possible that the project develops quickly.
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 evolve; to change, to develop
- to play
- to move (in a given area), to move about
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