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 imagine.”
Present Présent
Habits, current states, and actions happening now.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | imagine | I imagine | |
| tu | imagines | you imagine | |
| il / elle / on | imagine | he / she / it imagineson: we imagine / one imagines | |
| nous | imaginons | we imagine | |
| vous | imaginez | you imagine | |
| ils / elles | imaginent | they imagine |
IN A SENTENCEPresent example
Paul imagine une autre fin à cette histoire.
Paul imagines a different ending to this story.
Passé composé
Completed past events, using avoir or être plus a past participle.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | ai imaginé | I imagined | |
| tu | as imaginé | you imagined | |
| il / elle / on | a imaginé | he / she / it imaginedon: we imagined / one imagined | |
| nous | avons imaginé | we imagined | |
| vous | avez imaginé | you imagined | |
| ils / elles | ont imaginé | they imagined |
IN A SENTENCEPassé composé example
Hier, Paul a imaginé une autre fin à cette histoire.
Yesterday, Paul imagined a different ending to this story.
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’ | imaginais | I used to imagine | |
| tu | imaginais | you used to imagine | |
| il / elle / on | imaginait | he / she / it used to imagineon: we used to imagine / one used to imagine | |
| nous | imaginions | we used to imagine | |
| vous | imaginiez | you used to imagine | |
| ils / elles | imaginaient | they used to imagine |
IN A SENTENCEImperfect example
Autrefois, Paul imaginait une autre fin à cette histoire.
Back then, Paul used to imagine a different ending to this story.
Future Futur simple
Future events and predictions.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | imaginerai | I will imagine | |
| tu | imagineras | you will imagine | |
| il / elle / on | imaginera | he / she / it will imagineon: we will imagine / one will imagine | |
| nous | imaginerons | we will imagine | |
| vous | imaginerez | you will imagine | |
| ils / elles | imagineront | they will imagine |
IN A SENTENCEFuture example
Plus tard, Paul imaginera une autre fin à cette histoire.
Later, Paul will imagine a different ending to this story.
Conditional Conditionnel présent
Hypothetical events and polite requests.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | imaginerais | I would imagine | |
| tu | imaginerais | you would imagine | |
| il / elle / on | imaginerait | he / she / it would imagineon: we would imagine / one would imagine | |
| nous | imaginerions | we would imagine | |
| vous | imagineriez | you would imagine | |
| ils / elles | imagineraient | they would imagine |
IN A SENTENCEConditional example
Paul imaginerait une autre fin à cette histoire.
Paul would imagine a different ending to this story.
Present subjunctive Subjonctif présent
Dependent clauses expressing wishes, necessity, doubt, and certain feelings.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | imagine | (that) I imagine | |
| tu | imagines | (that) you imagine | |
| il / elle / on | imagine | (that) he / she / it imagineson: (that) we imagine / one imagines | |
| nous | imaginions | (that) we imagine | |
| vous | imaginiez | (that) you imagine | |
| ils / elles | imaginent | (that) they imagine |
IN A SENTENCEPresent subjunctive example
Il est possible que Paul imagine une autre fin à cette histoire.
It is possible that Paul imagines a different ending to this story.
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 imagine
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