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 fasten.”
Present Présent
Habits, current states, and actions happening now.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | fixe | I fasten | |
| tu | fixes | you fasten | |
| il / elle / on | fixe | he / she / it fastenson: we fasten / one fastens | |
| nous | fixons | we fasten | |
| vous | fixez | you fasten | |
| ils / elles | fixent | they fasten |
IN A SENTENCEPresent example
Paul fixe une étagère au mur.
Paul fastens a shelf to the wall.
Passé composé
Completed past events, using avoir or être plus a past participle.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | ai fixé | I fastened | |
| tu | as fixé | you fastened | |
| il / elle / on | a fixé | he / she / it fastenedon: we fastened / one fastened | |
| nous | avons fixé | we fastened | |
| vous | avez fixé | you fastened | |
| ils / elles | ont fixé | they fastened |
IN A SENTENCEPassé composé example
Hier, Paul a fixé une étagère au mur.
Yesterday, Paul fastened a shelf to the wall.
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’ | fixais | I used to fasten | |
| tu | fixais | you used to fasten | |
| il / elle / on | fixait | he / she / it used to fastenon: we used to fasten / one used to fasten | |
| nous | fixions | we used to fasten | |
| vous | fixiez | you used to fasten | |
| ils / elles | fixaient | they used to fasten |
IN A SENTENCEImperfect example
Autrefois, Paul fixait une étagère au mur.
Back then, Paul used to fasten a shelf to the wall.
Future Futur simple
Future events and predictions.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | fixerai | I will fasten | |
| tu | fixeras | you will fasten | |
| il / elle / on | fixera | he / she / it will fastenon: we will fasten / one will fasten | |
| nous | fixerons | we will fasten | |
| vous | fixerez | you will fasten | |
| ils / elles | fixeront | they will fasten |
IN A SENTENCEFuture example
Plus tard, Paul fixera une étagère au mur.
Later, Paul will fasten a shelf to the wall.
Conditional Conditionnel présent
Hypothetical events and polite requests.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | fixerais | I would fasten | |
| tu | fixerais | you would fasten | |
| il / elle / on | fixerait | he / she / it would fastenon: we would fasten / one would fasten | |
| nous | fixerions | we would fasten | |
| vous | fixeriez | you would fasten | |
| ils / elles | fixeraient | they would fasten |
IN A SENTENCEConditional example
Paul fixerait une étagère au mur.
Paul would fasten a shelf to the wall.
Present subjunctive Subjonctif présent
Dependent clauses expressing wishes, necessity, doubt, and certain feelings.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | fixe | (that) I fasten | |
| tu | fixes | (that) you fasten | |
| il / elle / on | fixe | (that) he / she / it fastenson: (that) we fasten / one fastens | |
| nous | fixions | (that) we fasten | |
| vous | fixiez | (that) you fasten | |
| ils / elles | fixent | (that) they fasten |
IN A SENTENCEPresent subjunctive example
Il est possible que Paul fixe une étagère au mur.
It is possible that Paul fastens a shelf to the wall.
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 fix, fasten
- to fix, arrange, set (a date, price etc.)
- to stare at
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