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 run.”
Present Présent
Habits, current states, and actions happening now.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | exploite | I run | |
| tu | exploites | you run | |
| il / elle / on | exploite | he / she / it runson: we run / one runs | |
| nous | exploitons | we run | |
| vous | exploitez | you run | |
| ils / elles | exploitent | they run |
IN A SENTENCEPresent example
Le fermier exploite une petite ferme biologique.
The farmer runs a small organic farm.
Passé composé
Completed past events, using avoir or être plus a past participle.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | ai exploité | I ran | |
| tu | as exploité | you ran | |
| il / elle / on | a exploité | he / she / it ranon: we ran / one ran | |
| nous | avons exploité | we ran | |
| vous | avez exploité | you ran | |
| ils / elles | ont exploité | they ran |
IN A SENTENCEPassé composé example
Hier, le fermier a exploité une petite ferme biologique.
Yesterday, the farmer ran a small organic farm.
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’ | exploitais | I used to run | |
| tu | exploitais | you used to run | |
| il / elle / on | exploitait | he / she / it used to runon: we used to run / one used to run | |
| nous | exploitions | we used to run | |
| vous | exploitiez | you used to run | |
| ils / elles | exploitaient | they used to run |
IN A SENTENCEImperfect example
Autrefois, le fermier exploitait une petite ferme biologique.
Back then, the farmer used to run a small organic farm.
Future Futur simple
Future events and predictions.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | exploiterai | I will run | |
| tu | exploiteras | you will run | |
| il / elle / on | exploitera | he / she / it will runon: we will run / one will run | |
| nous | exploiterons | we will run | |
| vous | exploiterez | you will run | |
| ils / elles | exploiteront | they will run |
IN A SENTENCEFuture example
Plus tard, le fermier exploitera une petite ferme biologique.
Later, the farmer will run a small organic farm.
Conditional Conditionnel présent
Hypothetical events and polite requests.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | exploiterais | I would run | |
| tu | exploiterais | you would run | |
| il / elle / on | exploiterait | he / she / it would runon: we would run / one would run | |
| nous | exploiterions | we would run | |
| vous | exploiteriez | you would run | |
| ils / elles | exploiteraient | they would run |
IN A SENTENCEConditional example
Le fermier exploiterait une petite ferme biologique.
The farmer would run a small organic farm.
Present subjunctive Subjonctif présent
Dependent clauses expressing wishes, necessity, doubt, and certain feelings.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | exploite | (that) I run | |
| tu | exploites | (that) you run | |
| il / elle / on | exploite | (that) he / she / it runson: (that) we run / one runs | |
| nous | exploitions | (that) we run | |
| vous | exploitiez | (that) you run | |
| ils / elles | exploitent | (that) they run |
IN A SENTENCEPresent subjunctive example
Il est possible que le fermier exploite une petite ferme biologique.
It is possible that the farmer runs a small organic farm.
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 exploit
- to operate
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