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 flee.”
Present Présent
Habits, current states, and actions happening now.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | fuis | I flee | |
| tu | fuis | you flee | |
| il / elle / on | fuit | he / she / it fleeson: we flee / one flees | |
| nous | fuyons | we flee | |
| vous | fuyez | you flee | |
| ils / elles | fuient | they flee |
IN A SENTENCEPresent example
Paul fuit le danger.
Paul flees danger.
Passé composé
Completed past events, using avoir or être plus a past participle.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | ai fui | I fled | |
| tu | as fui | you fled | |
| il / elle / on | a fui | he / she / it fledon: we fled / one fled | |
| nous | avons fui | we fled | |
| vous | avez fui | you fled | |
| ils / elles | ont fui | they fled |
IN A SENTENCEPassé composé example
Hier, Paul a fui le danger.
Yesterday, Paul fled danger.
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’ | fuyais | I used to flee | |
| tu | fuyais | you used to flee | |
| il / elle / on | fuyait | he / she / it used to fleeon: we used to flee / one used to flee | |
| nous | fuyions | we used to flee | |
| vous | fuyiez | you used to flee | |
| ils / elles | fuyaient | they used to flee |
IN A SENTENCEImperfect example
Autrefois, Paul fuyait le danger.
Back then, Paul used to flee danger.
Future Futur simple
Future events and predictions.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | fuirai | I will flee | |
| tu | fuiras | you will flee | |
| il / elle / on | fuira | he / she / it will fleeon: we will flee / one will flee | |
| nous | fuirons | we will flee | |
| vous | fuirez | you will flee | |
| ils / elles | fuiront | they will flee |
IN A SENTENCEFuture example
Plus tard, Paul fuira le danger.
Later, Paul will flee danger.
Conditional Conditionnel présent
Hypothetical events and polite requests.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | fuirais | I would flee | |
| tu | fuirais | you would flee | |
| il / elle / on | fuirait | he / she / it would fleeon: we would flee / one would flee | |
| nous | fuirions | we would flee | |
| vous | fuiriez | you would flee | |
| ils / elles | fuiraient | they would flee |
IN A SENTENCEConditional example
Paul fuirait le danger.
Paul would flee danger.
Present subjunctive Subjonctif présent
Dependent clauses expressing wishes, necessity, doubt, and certain feelings.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | fuie | (that) I flee | |
| tu | fuies | (that) you flee | |
| il / elle / on | fuie | (that) he / she / it fleeson: (that) we flee / one flees | |
| nous | fuyions | (that) we flee | |
| vous | fuyiez | (that) you flee | |
| ils / elles | fuient | (that) they flee |
IN A SENTENCEPresent subjunctive example
Il est possible que Paul fuie le danger.
It is possible that Paul flees danger.
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 escape
- to flee
- to leak; to have a leak
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