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 grow.”
Present Présent
Habits, current states, and actions happening now.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | grandis | I grow | |
| tu | grandis | you grow | |
| il / elle / on | grandit | he / she / it growson: we grow / one grows | |
| nous | grandissons | we grow | |
| vous | grandissez | you grow | |
| ils / elles | grandissent | they grow |
IN A SENTENCEPresent example
Cet arbre grandit près de la rivière.
This tree grows near the river.
Passé composé
Completed past events, using avoir or être plus a past participle.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | ai grandi | I grew | |
| tu | as grandi | you grew | |
| il / elle / on | a grandi | he / she / it grewon: we grew / one grew | |
| nous | avons grandi | we grew | |
| vous | avez grandi | you grew | |
| ils / elles | ont grandi | they grew |
IN A SENTENCEPassé composé example
Hier, cet arbre a grandi près de la rivière.
Yesterday, this tree grew near the river.
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’ | grandissais | I used to grow | |
| tu | grandissais | you used to grow | |
| il / elle / on | grandissait | he / she / it used to growon: we used to grow / one used to grow | |
| nous | grandissions | we used to grow | |
| vous | grandissiez | you used to grow | |
| ils / elles | grandissaient | they used to grow |
IN A SENTENCEImperfect example
Autrefois, cet arbre grandissait près de la rivière.
Back then, this tree used to grow near the river.
Future Futur simple
Future events and predictions.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | grandirai | I will grow | |
| tu | grandiras | you will grow | |
| il / elle / on | grandira | he / she / it will growon: we will grow / one will grow | |
| nous | grandirons | we will grow | |
| vous | grandirez | you will grow | |
| ils / elles | grandiront | they will grow |
IN A SENTENCEFuture example
Plus tard, cet arbre grandira près de la rivière.
Later, this tree will grow near the river.
Conditional Conditionnel présent
Hypothetical events and polite requests.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | grandirais | I would grow | |
| tu | grandirais | you would grow | |
| il / elle / on | grandirait | he / she / it would growon: we would grow / one would grow | |
| nous | grandirions | we would grow | |
| vous | grandiriez | you would grow | |
| ils / elles | grandiraient | they would grow |
IN A SENTENCEConditional example
Cet arbre grandirait près de la rivière.
This tree would grow near the river.
Present subjunctive Subjonctif présent
Dependent clauses expressing wishes, necessity, doubt, and certain feelings.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | grandisse | (that) I grow | |
| tu | grandisses | (that) you grow | |
| il / elle / on | grandisse | (that) he / she / it growson: (that) we grow / one grows | |
| nous | grandissions | (that) we grow | |
| vous | grandissiez | (that) you grow | |
| ils / elles | grandissent | (that) they grow |
IN A SENTENCEPresent subjunctive example
Il est possible que cet arbre grandisse près de la rivière.
It is possible that this tree grows near the river.
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 grow, get bigger
- to grow up
- to magnify
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