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 hinder.”
Present Présent
Habits, current states, and actions happening now.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | gêne | I hinder | |
| tu | gênes | you hinder | |
| il / elle / on | gêne | he / she / it hinderson: we hinder / one hinders | |
| nous | gênons | we hinder | |
| vous | gênez | you hinder | |
| ils / elles | gênent | they hinder |
IN A SENTENCEPresent example
Le brouillard gêne la circulation.
The fog hinders traffic.
Passé composé
Completed past events, using avoir or être plus a past participle.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | ai gêné | I hindered | |
| tu | as gêné | you hindered | |
| il / elle / on | a gêné | he / she / it hinderedon: we hindered / one hindered | |
| nous | avons gêné | we hindered | |
| vous | avez gêné | you hindered | |
| ils / elles | ont gêné | they hindered |
IN A SENTENCEPassé composé example
Hier, le brouillard a gêné la circulation.
Yesterday, the fog hindered traffic.
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’ | gênais | I used to hinder | |
| tu | gênais | you used to hinder | |
| il / elle / on | gênait | he / she / it used to hinderon: we used to hinder / one used to hinder | |
| nous | gênions | we used to hinder | |
| vous | gêniez | you used to hinder | |
| ils / elles | gênaient | they used to hinder |
IN A SENTENCEImperfect example
Autrefois, le brouillard gênait la circulation.
Back then, the fog used to hinder traffic.
Future Futur simple
Future events and predictions.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | gênerai | I will hinder | |
| tu | gêneras | you will hinder | |
| il / elle / on | gênera | he / she / it will hinderon: we will hinder / one will hinder | |
| nous | gênerons | we will hinder | |
| vous | gênerez | you will hinder | |
| ils / elles | gêneront | they will hinder |
IN A SENTENCEFuture example
Plus tard, le brouillard gênera la circulation.
Later, the fog will hinder traffic.
Conditional Conditionnel présent
Hypothetical events and polite requests.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | gênerais | I would hinder | |
| tu | gênerais | you would hinder | |
| il / elle / on | gênerait | he / she / it would hinderon: we would hinder / one would hinder | |
| nous | gênerions | we would hinder | |
| vous | gêneriez | you would hinder | |
| ils / elles | gêneraient | they would hinder |
IN A SENTENCEConditional example
Le brouillard gênerait la circulation.
The fog would hinder traffic.
Present subjunctive Subjonctif présent
Dependent clauses expressing wishes, necessity, doubt, and certain feelings.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | gêne | (that) I hinder | |
| tu | gênes | (that) you hinder | |
| il / elle / on | gêne | (that) he / she / it hinderson: (that) we hinder / one hinders | |
| nous | gênions | (that) we hinder | |
| vous | gêniez | (that) you hinder | |
| ils / elles | gênent | (that) they hinder |
IN A SENTENCEPresent subjunctive example
Il est possible que le brouillard gêne la circulation.
It is possible that the fog hinders traffic.
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 hinder, hamper, bother
- to bother, annoy, irritate
- to embarrass
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