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 carry out.”
Present Présent
Habits, current states, and actions happening now.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | exécute | I carry out | |
| tu | exécutes | you carry out | |
| il / elle / on | exécute | he / she / it carries outon: we carry out / one carries out | |
| nous | exécutons | we carry out | |
| vous | exécutez | you carry out | |
| ils / elles | exécutent | they carry out |
IN A SENTENCEPresent example
Paul exécute les instructions du responsable.
Paul carries out the manager's instructions.
Passé composé
Completed past events, using avoir or être plus a past participle.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | ai exécuté | I carried out | |
| tu | as exécuté | you carried out | |
| il / elle / on | a exécuté | he / she / it carried outon: we carried out / one carried out | |
| nous | avons exécuté | we carried out | |
| vous | avez exécuté | you carried out | |
| ils / elles | ont exécuté | they carried out |
IN A SENTENCEPassé composé example
Hier, Paul a exécuté les instructions du responsable.
Yesterday, Paul carried out the manager's instructions.
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’ | exécutais | I used to carry out | |
| tu | exécutais | you used to carry out | |
| il / elle / on | exécutait | he / she / it used to carry outon: we used to carry out / one used to carry out | |
| nous | exécutions | we used to carry out | |
| vous | exécutiez | you used to carry out | |
| ils / elles | exécutaient | they used to carry out |
IN A SENTENCEImperfect example
Autrefois, Paul exécutait les instructions du responsable.
Back then, Paul used to carry out the manager's instructions.
Future Futur simple
Future events and predictions.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | exécuterai | I will carry out | |
| tu | exécuteras | you will carry out | |
| il / elle / on | exécutera | he / she / it will carry outon: we will carry out / one will carry out | |
| nous | exécuterons | we will carry out | |
| vous | exécuterez | you will carry out | |
| ils / elles | exécuteront | they will carry out |
IN A SENTENCEFuture example
Plus tard, Paul exécutera les instructions du responsable.
Later, Paul will carry out the manager's instructions.
Conditional Conditionnel présent
Hypothetical events and polite requests.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | exécuterais | I would carry out | |
| tu | exécuterais | you would carry out | |
| il / elle / on | exécuterait | he / she / it would carry outon: we would carry out / one would carry out | |
| nous | exécuterions | we would carry out | |
| vous | exécuteriez | you would carry out | |
| ils / elles | exécuteraient | they would carry out |
IN A SENTENCEConditional example
Paul exécuterait les instructions du responsable.
Paul would carry out the manager's instructions.
Present subjunctive Subjonctif présent
Dependent clauses expressing wishes, necessity, doubt, and certain feelings.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | exécute | (that) I carry out | |
| tu | exécutes | (that) you carry out | |
| il / elle / on | exécute | (that) he / she / it carries outon: (that) we carry out / one carries out | |
| nous | exécutions | (that) we carry out | |
| vous | exécutiez | (that) you carry out | |
| ils / elles | exécutent | (that) they carry out |
IN A SENTENCEPresent subjunctive example
Il est possible que Paul exécute les instructions du responsable.
It is possible that Paul carries out the manager's instructions.
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 execute; to carry out
- to execute (to kill as punishment)
- to perform (contract)
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