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 exist.”
Present Présent
Habits, current states, and actions happening now.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | existe | I exist | |
| tu | existes | you exist | |
| il / elle / on | existe | he / she / it existson: we exist / one exists | |
| nous | existons | we exist | |
| vous | existez | you exist | |
| ils / elles | existent | they exist |
IN A SENTENCEPresent example
Ce problème existe dans plusieurs pays.
This problem exists in several countries.
Passé composé
Completed past events, using avoir or être plus a past participle.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | ai existé | I existed | |
| tu | as existé | you existed | |
| il / elle / on | a existé | he / she / it existedon: we existed / one existed | |
| nous | avons existé | we existed | |
| vous | avez existé | you existed | |
| ils / elles | ont existé | they existed |
IN A SENTENCEPassé composé example
Hier, ce problème a existé dans plusieurs pays.
Yesterday, this problem existed in several countries.
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’ | existais | I existed | |
| tu | existais | you existed | |
| il / elle / on | existait | he / she / it existedon: we existed / one existed | |
| nous | existions | we existed | |
| vous | existiez | you existed | |
| ils / elles | existaient | they existed |
IN A SENTENCEImperfect example
Autrefois, ce problème existait dans plusieurs pays.
Back then, this problem existed in several countries.
Future Futur simple
Future events and predictions.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | existerai | I will exist | |
| tu | existeras | you will exist | |
| il / elle / on | existera | he / she / it will existon: we will exist / one will exist | |
| nous | existerons | we will exist | |
| vous | existerez | you will exist | |
| ils / elles | existeront | they will exist |
IN A SENTENCEFuture example
Plus tard, ce problème existera dans plusieurs pays.
Later, this problem will exist in several countries.
Conditional Conditionnel présent
Hypothetical events and polite requests.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | existerais | I would exist | |
| tu | existerais | you would exist | |
| il / elle / on | existerait | he / she / it would existon: we would exist / one would exist | |
| nous | existerions | we would exist | |
| vous | existeriez | you would exist | |
| ils / elles | existeraient | they would exist |
IN A SENTENCEConditional example
Ce problème existerait dans plusieurs pays.
This problem would exist in several countries.
Present subjunctive Subjonctif présent
Dependent clauses expressing wishes, necessity, doubt, and certain feelings.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | existe | (that) I exist | |
| tu | existes | (that) you exist | |
| il / elle / on | existe | (that) he / she / it existson: (that) we exist / one exists | |
| nous | existions | (that) we exist | |
| vous | existiez | (that) you exist | |
| ils / elles | existent | (that) they exist |
IN A SENTENCEPresent subjunctive example
Il est possible que ce problème existe dans plusieurs pays.
It is possible that this problem exists in several countries.
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 exist
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