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 explode.”
Present Présent
Habits, current states, and actions happening now.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | explose | I explode | |
| tu | exploses | you explode | |
| il / elle / on | explose | he / she / it explodeson: we explode / one explodes | |
| nous | explosons | we explode | |
| vous | explosez | you explode | |
| ils / elles | explosent | they explode |
IN A SENTENCEPresent example
Le ballon explose sous la pression.
The balloon explodes under pressure.
Passé composé
Completed past events, using avoir or être plus a past participle.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | ai explosé | I exploded | |
| tu | as explosé | you exploded | |
| il / elle / on | a explosé | he / she / it explodedon: we exploded / one exploded | |
| nous | avons explosé | we exploded | |
| vous | avez explosé | you exploded | |
| ils / elles | ont explosé | they exploded |
IN A SENTENCEPassé composé example
Hier, le ballon a explosé sous la pression.
Yesterday, the balloon exploded under pressure.
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’ | explosais | I used to explode | |
| tu | explosais | you used to explode | |
| il / elle / on | explosait | he / she / it used to explodeon: we used to explode / one used to explode | |
| nous | explosions | we used to explode | |
| vous | explosiez | you used to explode | |
| ils / elles | explosaient | they used to explode |
IN A SENTENCEImperfect example
Autrefois, le ballon explosait sous la pression.
Back then, the balloon used to explode under pressure.
Future Futur simple
Future events and predictions.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | exploserai | I will explode | |
| tu | exploseras | you will explode | |
| il / elle / on | explosera | he / she / it will explodeon: we will explode / one will explode | |
| nous | exploserons | we will explode | |
| vous | exploserez | you will explode | |
| ils / elles | exploseront | they will explode |
IN A SENTENCEFuture example
Plus tard, le ballon explosera sous la pression.
Later, the balloon will explode under pressure.
Conditional Conditionnel présent
Hypothetical events and polite requests.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | exploserais | I would explode | |
| tu | exploserais | you would explode | |
| il / elle / on | exploserait | he / she / it would explodeon: we would explode / one would explode | |
| nous | exploserions | we would explode | |
| vous | exploseriez | you would explode | |
| ils / elles | exploseraient | they would explode |
IN A SENTENCEConditional example
Le ballon exploserait sous la pression.
The balloon would explode under pressure.
Present subjunctive Subjonctif présent
Dependent clauses expressing wishes, necessity, doubt, and certain feelings.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | explose | (that) I explode | |
| tu | exploses | (that) you explode | |
| il / elle / on | explose | (that) he / she / it explodeson: (that) we explode / one explodes | |
| nous | explosions | (that) we explode | |
| vous | explosiez | (that) you explode | |
| ils / elles | explosent | (that) they explode |
IN A SENTENCEPresent subjunctive example
Il est possible que le ballon explose sous la pression.
It is possible that the balloon explodes under pressure.
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 explode (fly apart with sudden violent force)
- to explode (increase suddenly)
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