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 live.”
Present Présent
Habits, current states, and actions happening now.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | habite | I live | |
| tu | habites | you live | |
| il / elle / on | habite | he / she / it liveson: we live / one lives | |
| nous | habitons | we live | |
| vous | habitez | you live | |
| ils / elles | habitent | they live |
IN A SENTENCEPresent example
Paul habite près de la gare.
Paul lives near the station.
Passé composé
Completed past events, using avoir or être plus a past participle.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | ai habité | I lived | |
| tu | as habité | you lived | |
| il / elle / on | a habité | he / she / it livedon: we lived / one lived | |
| nous | avons habité | we lived | |
| vous | avez habité | you lived | |
| ils / elles | ont habité | they lived |
IN A SENTENCEPassé composé example
Hier, Paul a habité près de la gare.
Yesterday, Paul lived near the station.
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’ | habitais | I used to live | |
| tu | habitais | you used to live | |
| il / elle / on | habitait | he / she / it used to liveon: we used to live / one used to live | |
| nous | habitions | we used to live | |
| vous | habitiez | you used to live | |
| ils / elles | habitaient | they used to live |
IN A SENTENCEImperfect example
Autrefois, Paul habitait près de la gare.
Back then, Paul used to live near the station.
Future Futur simple
Future events and predictions.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | habiterai | I will live | |
| tu | habiteras | you will live | |
| il / elle / on | habitera | he / she / it will liveon: we will live / one will live | |
| nous | habiterons | we will live | |
| vous | habiterez | you will live | |
| ils / elles | habiteront | they will live |
IN A SENTENCEFuture example
Plus tard, Paul habitera près de la gare.
Later, Paul will live near the station.
Conditional Conditionnel présent
Hypothetical events and polite requests.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | habiterais | I would live | |
| tu | habiterais | you would live | |
| il / elle / on | habiterait | he / she / it would liveon: we would live / one would live | |
| nous | habiterions | we would live | |
| vous | habiteriez | you would live | |
| ils / elles | habiteraient | they would live |
IN A SENTENCEConditional example
Paul habiterait près de la gare.
Paul would live near the station.
Present subjunctive Subjonctif présent
Dependent clauses expressing wishes, necessity, doubt, and certain feelings.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | habite | (that) I live | |
| tu | habites | (that) you live | |
| il / elle / on | habite | (that) he / she / it liveson: (that) we live / one lives | |
| nous | habitions | (that) we live | |
| vous | habitiez | (that) you live | |
| ils / elles | habitent | (that) they live |
IN A SENTENCEPresent subjunctive example
Il est possible que Paul habite près de la gare.
It is possible that Paul lives near the station.
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 live in, to occupy (to have as a home.)
- to live (in)
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