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 explain.”
Present Présent
Habits, current states, and actions happening now.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | explique | I explain | |
| tu | expliques | you explain | |
| il / elle / on | explique | he / she / it explainson: we explain / one explains | |
| nous | expliquons | we explain | |
| vous | expliquez | you explain | |
| ils / elles | expliquent | they explain |
IN A SENTENCEPresent example
Paul explique la règle du jeu.
Paul explains the rule of the game.
Passé composé
Completed past events, using avoir or être plus a past participle.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | ai expliqué | I explained | |
| tu | as expliqué | you explained | |
| il / elle / on | a expliqué | he / she / it explainedon: we explained / one explained | |
| nous | avons expliqué | we explained | |
| vous | avez expliqué | you explained | |
| ils / elles | ont expliqué | they explained |
IN A SENTENCEPassé composé example
Hier, Paul a expliqué la règle du jeu.
Yesterday, Paul explained the rule of the game.
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’ | expliquais | I used to explain | |
| tu | expliquais | you used to explain | |
| il / elle / on | expliquait | he / she / it used to explainon: we used to explain / one used to explain | |
| nous | expliquions | we used to explain | |
| vous | expliquiez | you used to explain | |
| ils / elles | expliquaient | they used to explain |
IN A SENTENCEImperfect example
Autrefois, Paul expliquait la règle du jeu.
Back then, Paul used to explain the rule of the game.
Future Futur simple
Future events and predictions.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | expliquerai | I will explain | |
| tu | expliqueras | you will explain | |
| il / elle / on | expliquera | he / she / it will explainon: we will explain / one will explain | |
| nous | expliquerons | we will explain | |
| vous | expliquerez | you will explain | |
| ils / elles | expliqueront | they will explain |
IN A SENTENCEFuture example
Plus tard, Paul expliquera la règle du jeu.
Later, Paul will explain the rule of the game.
Conditional Conditionnel présent
Hypothetical events and polite requests.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | expliquerais | I would explain | |
| tu | expliquerais | you would explain | |
| il / elle / on | expliquerait | he / she / it would explainon: we would explain / one would explain | |
| nous | expliquerions | we would explain | |
| vous | expliqueriez | you would explain | |
| ils / elles | expliqueraient | they would explain |
IN A SENTENCEConditional example
Paul expliquerait la règle du jeu.
Paul would explain the rule of the game.
Present subjunctive Subjonctif présent
Dependent clauses expressing wishes, necessity, doubt, and certain feelings.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | explique | (that) I explain | |
| tu | expliques | (that) you explain | |
| il / elle / on | explique | (that) he / she / it explainson: (that) we explain / one explains | |
| nous | expliquions | (that) we explain | |
| vous | expliquiez | (that) you explain | |
| ils / elles | expliquent | (that) they explain |
IN A SENTENCEPresent subjunctive example
Il est possible que Paul explique la règle du jeu.
It is possible that Paul explains the rule of the game.
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 explain
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