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 search.”
Present Présent
Habits, current states, and actions happening now.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | fouille | I search | |
| tu | fouilles | you search | |
| il / elle / on | fouille | he / she / it searcheson: we search / one searches | |
| nous | fouillons | we search | |
| vous | fouillez | you search | |
| ils / elles | fouillent | they search |
IN A SENTENCEPresent example
Paul fouille son sac à la recherche de ses clés.
Paul searches his bag for his keys.
Passé composé
Completed past events, using avoir or être plus a past participle.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | ai fouillé | I searched | |
| tu | as fouillé | you searched | |
| il / elle / on | a fouillé | he / she / it searchedon: we searched / one searched | |
| nous | avons fouillé | we searched | |
| vous | avez fouillé | you searched | |
| ils / elles | ont fouillé | they searched |
IN A SENTENCEPassé composé example
Hier, Paul a fouillé son sac à la recherche de ses clés.
Yesterday, Paul searched his bag for his keys.
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’ | fouillais | I used to search | |
| tu | fouillais | you used to search | |
| il / elle / on | fouillait | he / she / it used to searchon: we used to search / one used to search | |
| nous | fouillions | we used to search | |
| vous | fouilliez | you used to search | |
| ils / elles | fouillaient | they used to search |
IN A SENTENCEImperfect example
Autrefois, Paul fouillait son sac à la recherche de ses clés.
Back then, Paul used to search his bag for his keys.
Future Futur simple
Future events and predictions.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | fouillerai | I will search | |
| tu | fouilleras | you will search | |
| il / elle / on | fouillera | he / she / it will searchon: we will search / one will search | |
| nous | fouillerons | we will search | |
| vous | fouillerez | you will search | |
| ils / elles | fouilleront | they will search |
IN A SENTENCEFuture example
Plus tard, Paul fouillera son sac à la recherche de ses clés.
Later, Paul will search his bag for his keys.
Conditional Conditionnel présent
Hypothetical events and polite requests.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | fouillerais | I would search | |
| tu | fouillerais | you would search | |
| il / elle / on | fouillerait | he / she / it would searchon: we would search / one would search | |
| nous | fouillerions | we would search | |
| vous | fouilleriez | you would search | |
| ils / elles | fouilleraient | they would search |
IN A SENTENCEConditional example
Paul fouillerait son sac à la recherche de ses clés.
Paul would search his bag for his keys.
Present subjunctive Subjonctif présent
Dependent clauses expressing wishes, necessity, doubt, and certain feelings.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | fouille | (that) I search | |
| tu | fouilles | (that) you search | |
| il / elle / on | fouille | (that) he / she / it searcheson: (that) we search / one searches | |
| nous | fouillions | (that) we search | |
| vous | fouilliez | (that) you search | |
| ils / elles | fouillent | (that) they search |
IN A SENTENCEPresent subjunctive example
Il est possible que Paul fouille son sac à la recherche de ses clés.
It is possible that Paul searches his bag for his keys.
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 search (place, thing)
- to search, frisk (person)
- to go into, investigate (question, issue)
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