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 finish.”
Present Présent
Habits, current states, and actions happening now.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | finis | I finish | |
| tu | finis | you finish | |
| il / elle / on | finit | he / she / it finisheson: we finish / one finishes | |
| nous | finissons | we finish | |
| vous | finissez | you finish | |
| ils / elles | finissent | they finish |
IN A SENTENCEPresent example
Paul finit son travail avant le repas.
Paul finishes his work before the meal.
Passé composé
Completed past events, using avoir or être plus a past participle.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | ai fini | I finished | |
| tu | as fini | you finished | |
| il / elle / on | a fini | he / she / it finishedon: we finished / one finished | |
| nous | avons fini | we finished | |
| vous | avez fini | you finished | |
| ils / elles | ont fini | they finished |
IN A SENTENCEPassé composé example
Hier, Paul a fini son travail avant le repas.
Yesterday, Paul finished his work before 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’ | finissais | I used to finish | |
| tu | finissais | you used to finish | |
| il / elle / on | finissait | he / she / it used to finishon: we used to finish / one used to finish | |
| nous | finissions | we used to finish | |
| vous | finissiez | you used to finish | |
| ils / elles | finissaient | they used to finish |
IN A SENTENCEImperfect example
Autrefois, Paul finissait son travail avant le repas.
Back then, Paul used to finish his work before the meal.
Future Futur simple
Future events and predictions.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | finirai | I will finish | |
| tu | finiras | you will finish | |
| il / elle / on | finira | he / she / it will finishon: we will finish / one will finish | |
| nous | finirons | we will finish | |
| vous | finirez | you will finish | |
| ils / elles | finiront | they will finish |
IN A SENTENCEFuture example
Plus tard, Paul finira son travail avant le repas.
Later, Paul will finish his work before the meal.
Conditional Conditionnel présent
Hypothetical events and polite requests.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | finirais | I would finish | |
| tu | finirais | you would finish | |
| il / elle / on | finirait | he / she / it would finishon: we would finish / one would finish | |
| nous | finirions | we would finish | |
| vous | finiriez | you would finish | |
| ils / elles | finiraient | they would finish |
IN A SENTENCEConditional example
Paul finirait son travail avant le repas.
Paul would finish his work before the meal.
Present subjunctive Subjonctif présent
Dependent clauses expressing wishes, necessity, doubt, and certain feelings.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | finisse | (that) I finish | |
| tu | finisses | (that) you finish | |
| il / elle / on | finisse | (that) he / she / it finisheson: (that) we finish / one finishes | |
| nous | finissions | (that) we finish | |
| vous | finissiez | (that) you finish | |
| ils / elles | finissent | (that) they finish |
IN A SENTENCEPresent subjunctive example
Il est possible que Paul finisse son travail avant le repas.
It is possible that Paul finishes his work before the meal.
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 finish, end, complete
- to end up
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