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 spin.”
Present Présent
Habits, current states, and actions happening now.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | file | I spin | |
| tu | files | you spin | |
| il / elle / on | file | he / she / it spinson: we spin / one spins | |
| nous | filons | we spin | |
| vous | filez | you spin | |
| ils / elles | filent | they spin |
IN A SENTENCEPresent example
Paul file la laine avec un rouet.
Paul spins wool with a spinning wheel.
Passé composé
Completed past events, using avoir or être plus a past participle.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | ai filé | I spun | |
| tu | as filé | you spun | |
| il / elle / on | a filé | he / she / it spunon: we spun / one spun | |
| nous | avons filé | we spun | |
| vous | avez filé | you spun | |
| ils / elles | ont filé | they spun |
IN A SENTENCEPassé composé example
Hier, Paul a filé la laine avec un rouet.
Yesterday, Paul spun wool with a spinning wheel.
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’ | filais | I used to spin | |
| tu | filais | you used to spin | |
| il / elle / on | filait | he / she / it used to spinon: we used to spin / one used to spin | |
| nous | filions | we used to spin | |
| vous | filiez | you used to spin | |
| ils / elles | filaient | they used to spin |
IN A SENTENCEImperfect example
Autrefois, Paul filait la laine avec un rouet.
Back then, Paul used to spin wool with a spinning wheel.
Future Futur simple
Future events and predictions.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | filerai | I will spin | |
| tu | fileras | you will spin | |
| il / elle / on | filera | he / she / it will spinon: we will spin / one will spin | |
| nous | filerons | we will spin | |
| vous | filerez | you will spin | |
| ils / elles | fileront | they will spin |
IN A SENTENCEFuture example
Plus tard, Paul filera la laine avec un rouet.
Later, Paul will spin wool with a spinning wheel.
Conditional Conditionnel présent
Hypothetical events and polite requests.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | filerais | I would spin | |
| tu | filerais | you would spin | |
| il / elle / on | filerait | he / she / it would spinon: we would spin / one would spin | |
| nous | filerions | we would spin | |
| vous | fileriez | you would spin | |
| ils / elles | fileraient | they would spin |
IN A SENTENCEConditional example
Paul filerait la laine avec un rouet.
Paul would spin wool with a spinning wheel.
Present subjunctive Subjonctif présent
Dependent clauses expressing wishes, necessity, doubt, and certain feelings.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | file | (that) I spin | |
| tu | files | (that) you spin | |
| il / elle / on | file | (that) he / she / it spinson: (that) we spin / one spins | |
| nous | filions | (that) we spin | |
| vous | filiez | (that) you spin | |
| ils / elles | filent | (that) they spin |
IN A SENTENCEPresent subjunctive example
Il est possible que Paul file la laine avec un rouet.
It is possible that Paul spins wool with a spinning wheel.
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 spin (a web)
- to thread through (a crowd)
- to spin a thread (of syrup, or syrup-like substances)
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