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 rub.”
Present Présent
Habits, current states, and actions happening now.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | frotte | I rub | |
| tu | frottes | you rub | |
| il / elle / on | frotte | he / she / it rubson: we rub / one rubs | |
| nous | frottons | we rub | |
| vous | frottez | you rub | |
| ils / elles | frottent | they rub |
IN A SENTENCEPresent example
Paul frotte la tache avec un chiffon.
Paul rubs the stain with a cloth.
Passé composé
Completed past events, using avoir or être plus a past participle.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | ai frotté | I rubbed | |
| tu | as frotté | you rubbed | |
| il / elle / on | a frotté | he / she / it rubbedon: we rubbed / one rubbed | |
| nous | avons frotté | we rubbed | |
| vous | avez frotté | you rubbed | |
| ils / elles | ont frotté | they rubbed |
IN A SENTENCEPassé composé example
Hier, Paul a frotté la tache avec un chiffon.
Yesterday, Paul rubbed the stain with a cloth.
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’ | frottais | I used to rub | |
| tu | frottais | you used to rub | |
| il / elle / on | frottait | he / she / it used to rubon: we used to rub / one used to rub | |
| nous | frottions | we used to rub | |
| vous | frottiez | you used to rub | |
| ils / elles | frottaient | they used to rub |
IN A SENTENCEImperfect example
Autrefois, Paul frottait la tache avec un chiffon.
Back then, Paul used to rub the stain with a cloth.
Future Futur simple
Future events and predictions.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | frotterai | I will rub | |
| tu | frotteras | you will rub | |
| il / elle / on | frottera | he / she / it will rubon: we will rub / one will rub | |
| nous | frotterons | we will rub | |
| vous | frotterez | you will rub | |
| ils / elles | frotteront | they will rub |
IN A SENTENCEFuture example
Plus tard, Paul frottera la tache avec un chiffon.
Later, Paul will rub the stain with a cloth.
Conditional Conditionnel présent
Hypothetical events and polite requests.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | frotterais | I would rub | |
| tu | frotterais | you would rub | |
| il / elle / on | frotterait | he / she / it would rubon: we would rub / one would rub | |
| nous | frotterions | we would rub | |
| vous | frotteriez | you would rub | |
| ils / elles | frotteraient | they would rub |
IN A SENTENCEConditional example
Paul frotterait la tache avec un chiffon.
Paul would rub the stain with a cloth.
Present subjunctive Subjonctif présent
Dependent clauses expressing wishes, necessity, doubt, and certain feelings.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | frotte | (that) I rub | |
| tu | frottes | (that) you rub | |
| il / elle / on | frotte | (that) he / she / it rubson: (that) we rub / one rubs | |
| nous | frottions | (that) we rub | |
| vous | frottiez | (that) you rub | |
| ils / elles | frottent | (that) they rub |
IN A SENTENCEPresent subjunctive example
Il est possible que Paul frotte la tache avec un chiffon.
It is possible that Paul rubs the stain with a cloth.
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 rub, chafe
- to scrub, scour
- to scrape
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