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 hesitate.”
Present Présent
Habits, current states, and actions happening now.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | hésite | I hesitate | |
| tu | hésites | you hesitate | |
| il / elle / on | hésite | he / she / it hesitateson: we hesitate / one hesitates | |
| nous | hésitons | we hesitate | |
| vous | hésitez | you hesitate | |
| ils / elles | hésitent | they hesitate |
IN A SENTENCEPresent example
Paul hésite avant de répondre.
Paul hesitates before answering.
Passé composé
Completed past events, using avoir or être plus a past participle.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | ai hésité | I hesitated | |
| tu | as hésité | you hesitated | |
| il / elle / on | a hésité | he / she / it hesitatedon: we hesitated / one hesitated | |
| nous | avons hésité | we hesitated | |
| vous | avez hésité | you hesitated | |
| ils / elles | ont hésité | they hesitated |
IN A SENTENCEPassé composé example
Hier, Paul a hésité avant de répondre.
Yesterday, Paul hesitated before answering.
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’ | hésitais | I used to hesitate | |
| tu | hésitais | you used to hesitate | |
| il / elle / on | hésitait | he / she / it used to hesitateon: we used to hesitate / one used to hesitate | |
| nous | hésitions | we used to hesitate | |
| vous | hésitiez | you used to hesitate | |
| ils / elles | hésitaient | they used to hesitate |
IN A SENTENCEImperfect example
Autrefois, Paul hésitait avant de répondre.
Back then, Paul used to hesitate before answering.
Future Futur simple
Future events and predictions.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | hésiterai | I will hesitate | |
| tu | hésiteras | you will hesitate | |
| il / elle / on | hésitera | he / she / it will hesitateon: we will hesitate / one will hesitate | |
| nous | hésiterons | we will hesitate | |
| vous | hésiterez | you will hesitate | |
| ils / elles | hésiteront | they will hesitate |
IN A SENTENCEFuture example
Plus tard, Paul hésitera avant de répondre.
Later, Paul will hesitate before answering.
Conditional Conditionnel présent
Hypothetical events and polite requests.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | hésiterais | I would hesitate | |
| tu | hésiterais | you would hesitate | |
| il / elle / on | hésiterait | he / she / it would hesitateon: we would hesitate / one would hesitate | |
| nous | hésiterions | we would hesitate | |
| vous | hésiteriez | you would hesitate | |
| ils / elles | hésiteraient | they would hesitate |
IN A SENTENCEConditional example
Paul hésiterait avant de répondre.
Paul would hesitate before answering.
Present subjunctive Subjonctif présent
Dependent clauses expressing wishes, necessity, doubt, and certain feelings.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | hésite | (that) I hesitate | |
| tu | hésites | (that) you hesitate | |
| il / elle / on | hésite | (that) he / she / it hesitateson: (that) we hesitate / one hesitates | |
| nous | hésitions | (that) we hesitate | |
| vous | hésitiez | (that) you hesitate | |
| ils / elles | hésitent | (that) they hesitate |
IN A SENTENCEPresent subjunctive example
Il est possible que Paul hésite avant de répondre.
It is possible that Paul hesitates before answering.
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 hesitate
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