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 govern.”
Present Présent
Habits, current states, and actions happening now.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | gouverne | I govern | |
| tu | gouvernes | you govern | |
| il / elle / on | gouverne | he / she / it governson: we govern / one governs | |
| nous | gouvernons | we govern | |
| vous | gouvernez | you govern | |
| ils / elles | gouvernent | they govern |
IN A SENTENCEPresent example
Le roi gouverne ce pays dans le roman.
The king governs this country in the novel.
Passé composé
Completed past events, using avoir or être plus a past participle.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | ai gouverné | I governed | |
| tu | as gouverné | you governed | |
| il / elle / on | a gouverné | he / she / it governedon: we governed / one governed | |
| nous | avons gouverné | we governed | |
| vous | avez gouverné | you governed | |
| ils / elles | ont gouverné | they governed |
IN A SENTENCEPassé composé example
Hier, le roi a gouverné ce pays dans le roman.
Yesterday, the king governed this country in the novel.
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’ | gouvernais | I used to govern | |
| tu | gouvernais | you used to govern | |
| il / elle / on | gouvernait | he / she / it used to governon: we used to govern / one used to govern | |
| nous | gouvernions | we used to govern | |
| vous | gouverniez | you used to govern | |
| ils / elles | gouvernaient | they used to govern |
IN A SENTENCEImperfect example
Autrefois, le roi gouvernait ce pays dans le roman.
Back then, the king used to govern this country in the novel.
Future Futur simple
Future events and predictions.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | gouvernerai | I will govern | |
| tu | gouverneras | you will govern | |
| il / elle / on | gouvernera | he / she / it will governon: we will govern / one will govern | |
| nous | gouvernerons | we will govern | |
| vous | gouvernerez | you will govern | |
| ils / elles | gouverneront | they will govern |
IN A SENTENCEFuture example
Plus tard, le roi gouvernera ce pays dans le roman.
Later, the king will govern this country in the novel.
Conditional Conditionnel présent
Hypothetical events and polite requests.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | gouvernerais | I would govern | |
| tu | gouvernerais | you would govern | |
| il / elle / on | gouvernerait | he / she / it would governon: we would govern / one would govern | |
| nous | gouvernerions | we would govern | |
| vous | gouverneriez | you would govern | |
| ils / elles | gouverneraient | they would govern |
IN A SENTENCEConditional example
Le roi gouvernerait ce pays dans le roman.
The king would govern this country in the novel.
Present subjunctive Subjonctif présent
Dependent clauses expressing wishes, necessity, doubt, and certain feelings.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | gouverne | (that) I govern | |
| tu | gouvernes | (that) you govern | |
| il / elle / on | gouverne | (that) he / she / it governson: (that) we govern / one governs | |
| nous | gouvernions | (that) we govern | |
| vous | gouverniez | (that) you govern | |
| ils / elles | gouvernent | (that) they govern |
IN A SENTENCEPresent subjunctive example
Il est possible que le roi gouverne ce pays dans le roman.
It is possible that the king governs this country in the novel.
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 govern
- to steer
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