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 spoil.”
Present Présent
Habits, current states, and actions happening now.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | gâche | I spoil | |
| tu | gâches | you spoil | |
| il / elle / on | gâche | he / she / it spoilson: we spoil / one spoils | |
| nous | gâchons | we spoil | |
| vous | gâchez | you spoil | |
| ils / elles | gâchent | they spoil |
IN A SENTENCEPresent example
La pluie gâche le pique-nique.
The rain spoils the picnic.
Passé composé
Completed past events, using avoir or être plus a past participle.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | ai gâché | I spoiled | |
| tu | as gâché | you spoiled | |
| il / elle / on | a gâché | he / she / it spoiledon: we spoiled / one spoiled | |
| nous | avons gâché | we spoiled | |
| vous | avez gâché | you spoiled | |
| ils / elles | ont gâché | they spoiled |
IN A SENTENCEPassé composé example
Hier, la pluie a gâché le pique-nique.
Yesterday, the rain spoiled the picnic.
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’ | gâchais | I used to spoil | |
| tu | gâchais | you used to spoil | |
| il / elle / on | gâchait | he / she / it used to spoilon: we used to spoil / one used to spoil | |
| nous | gâchions | we used to spoil | |
| vous | gâchiez | you used to spoil | |
| ils / elles | gâchaient | they used to spoil |
IN A SENTENCEImperfect example
Autrefois, la pluie gâchait le pique-nique.
Back then, the rain used to spoil the picnic.
Future Futur simple
Future events and predictions.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | gâcherai | I will spoil | |
| tu | gâcheras | you will spoil | |
| il / elle / on | gâchera | he / she / it will spoilon: we will spoil / one will spoil | |
| nous | gâcherons | we will spoil | |
| vous | gâcherez | you will spoil | |
| ils / elles | gâcheront | they will spoil |
IN A SENTENCEFuture example
Plus tard, la pluie gâchera le pique-nique.
Later, the rain will spoil the picnic.
Conditional Conditionnel présent
Hypothetical events and polite requests.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | gâcherais | I would spoil | |
| tu | gâcherais | you would spoil | |
| il / elle / on | gâcherait | he / she / it would spoilon: we would spoil / one would spoil | |
| nous | gâcherions | we would spoil | |
| vous | gâcheriez | you would spoil | |
| ils / elles | gâcheraient | they would spoil |
IN A SENTENCEConditional example
La pluie gâcherait le pique-nique.
The rain would spoil the picnic.
Present subjunctive Subjonctif présent
Dependent clauses expressing wishes, necessity, doubt, and certain feelings.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | gâche | (that) I spoil | |
| tu | gâches | (that) you spoil | |
| il / elle / on | gâche | (that) he / she / it spoilson: (that) we spoil / one spoils | |
| nous | gâchions | (that) we spoil | |
| vous | gâchiez | (that) you spoil | |
| ils / elles | gâchent | (that) they spoil |
IN A SENTENCEPresent subjunctive example
Il est possible que la pluie gâche le pique-nique.
It is possible that the rain spoils the picnic.
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 ruin, spoil, mar, wreck, waste
- to mess up, botch, bungle
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