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 formulate.”
Present Présent
Habits, current states, and actions happening now.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | formule | I formulate | |
| tu | formules | you formulate | |
| il / elle / on | formule | he / she / it formulateson: we formulate / one formulates | |
| nous | formulons | we formulate | |
| vous | formulez | you formulate | |
| ils / elles | formulent | they formulate |
IN A SENTENCEPresent example
Paul formule une demande précise.
Paul formulates a precise request.
Passé composé
Completed past events, using avoir or être plus a past participle.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | ai formulé | I formulated | |
| tu | as formulé | you formulated | |
| il / elle / on | a formulé | he / she / it formulatedon: we formulated / one formulated | |
| nous | avons formulé | we formulated | |
| vous | avez formulé | you formulated | |
| ils / elles | ont formulé | they formulated |
IN A SENTENCEPassé composé example
Hier, Paul a formulé une demande précise.
Yesterday, Paul formulated a precise request.
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’ | formulais | I used to formulate | |
| tu | formulais | you used to formulate | |
| il / elle / on | formulait | he / she / it used to formulateon: we used to formulate / one used to formulate | |
| nous | formulions | we used to formulate | |
| vous | formuliez | you used to formulate | |
| ils / elles | formulaient | they used to formulate |
IN A SENTENCEImperfect example
Autrefois, Paul formulait une demande précise.
Back then, Paul used to formulate a precise request.
Future Futur simple
Future events and predictions.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | formulerai | I will formulate | |
| tu | formuleras | you will formulate | |
| il / elle / on | formulera | he / she / it will formulateon: we will formulate / one will formulate | |
| nous | formulerons | we will formulate | |
| vous | formulerez | you will formulate | |
| ils / elles | formuleront | they will formulate |
IN A SENTENCEFuture example
Plus tard, Paul formulera une demande précise.
Later, Paul will formulate a precise request.
Conditional Conditionnel présent
Hypothetical events and polite requests.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | formulerais | I would formulate | |
| tu | formulerais | you would formulate | |
| il / elle / on | formulerait | he / she / it would formulateon: we would formulate / one would formulate | |
| nous | formulerions | we would formulate | |
| vous | formuleriez | you would formulate | |
| ils / elles | formuleraient | they would formulate |
IN A SENTENCEConditional example
Paul formulerait une demande précise.
Paul would formulate a precise request.
Present subjunctive Subjonctif présent
Dependent clauses expressing wishes, necessity, doubt, and certain feelings.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | formule | (that) I formulate | |
| tu | formules | (that) you formulate | |
| il / elle / on | formule | (that) he / she / it formulateson: (that) we formulate / one formulates | |
| nous | formulions | (that) we formulate | |
| vous | formuliez | (that) you formulate | |
| ils / elles | formulent | (that) they formulate |
IN A SENTENCEPresent subjunctive example
Il est possible que Paul formule une demande précise.
It is possible that Paul formulates a precise request.
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 formulate
- to express; to word, to put into words
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