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 do.”
Present Présent
Habits, current states, and actions happening now.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | fais | I do | |
| tu | fais | you do | |
| il / elle / on | fait | he / she / it doeson: we do / one does | |
| nous | faisons | we do | |
| vous | faites | you do | |
| ils / elles | font | they do |
IN A SENTENCEPresent example
Paul fait ses devoirs.
Paul does his homework.
Passé composé
Completed past events, using avoir or être plus a past participle.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | ai fait | I did | |
| tu | as fait | you did | |
| il / elle / on | a fait | he / she / it didon: we did / one did | |
| nous | avons fait | we did | |
| vous | avez fait | you did | |
| ils / elles | ont fait | they did |
IN A SENTENCEPassé composé example
Hier, Paul a fait ses devoirs après le repas.
Yesterday, Paul did his homework after the meal.
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’ | faisais | I used to do | |
| tu | faisais | you used to do | |
| il / elle / on | faisait | he / she / it used to doon: we used to do / one used to do | |
| nous | faisions | we used to do | |
| vous | faisiez | you used to do | |
| ils / elles | faisaient | they used to do |
IN A SENTENCEImperfect example
Autrefois, Paul faisait ses devoirs à la bibliothèque.
Back then, Paul used to do his homework at the library.
Future Futur simple
Future events and predictions.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | ferai | I will do | |
| tu | feras | you will do | |
| il / elle / on | fera | he / she / it will doon: we will do / one will do | |
| nous | ferons | we will do | |
| vous | ferez | you will do | |
| ils / elles | feront | they will do |
IN A SENTENCEFuture example
Demain, Paul fera les exercices de français.
Tomorrow, Paul will do the French exercises.
Conditional Conditionnel présent
Hypothetical events and polite requests.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | ferais | I would do | |
| tu | ferais | you would do | |
| il / elle / on | ferait | he / she / it would doon: we would do / one would do | |
| nous | ferions | we would do | |
| vous | feriez | you would do | |
| ils / elles | feraient | they would do |
IN A SENTENCEConditional example
Avec plus de temps, Paul ferait un exercice supplémentaire.
With more time, Paul would do an extra exercise.
Present subjunctive Subjonctif présent
Dependent clauses expressing wishes, necessity, doubt, and certain feelings.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | fasse | (that) I do | |
| tu | fasses | (that) you do | |
| il / elle / on | fasse | (that) he / she / it doeson: (that) we do / one does | |
| nous | fassions | (that) we do | |
| vous | fassiez | (that) you do | |
| ils / elles | fassent | (that) they do |
IN A SENTENCEPresent subjunctive example
Il est possible que Paul fasse ses devoirs chez un ami.
Paul may do his homework at a friend's house.
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 do; to make
- to do
- to make
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