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 import.”
Present Présent
Habits, current states, and actions happening now.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | importe | I import | |
| tu | importes | you import | |
| il / elle / on | importe | he / she / it importson: we import / one imports | |
| nous | importons | we import | |
| vous | importez | you import | |
| ils / elles | importent | they import |
IN A SENTENCEPresent example
Paul importe du café du Brésil.
Paul imports coffee from Brazil.
Passé composé
Completed past events, using avoir or être plus a past participle.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | ai importé | I imported | |
| tu | as importé | you imported | |
| il / elle / on | a importé | he / she / it importedon: we imported / one imported | |
| nous | avons importé | we imported | |
| vous | avez importé | you imported | |
| ils / elles | ont importé | they imported |
IN A SENTENCEPassé composé example
Hier, Paul a importé du café du Brésil.
Yesterday, Paul imported coffee from Brazil.
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’ | importais | I used to import | |
| tu | importais | you used to import | |
| il / elle / on | importait | he / she / it used to importon: we used to import / one used to import | |
| nous | importions | we used to import | |
| vous | importiez | you used to import | |
| ils / elles | importaient | they used to import |
IN A SENTENCEImperfect example
Autrefois, Paul importait du café du Brésil.
Back then, Paul used to import coffee from Brazil.
Future Futur simple
Future events and predictions.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | importerai | I will import | |
| tu | importeras | you will import | |
| il / elle / on | importera | he / she / it will importon: we will import / one will import | |
| nous | importerons | we will import | |
| vous | importerez | you will import | |
| ils / elles | importeront | they will import |
IN A SENTENCEFuture example
Plus tard, Paul importera du café du Brésil.
Later, Paul will import coffee from Brazil.
Conditional Conditionnel présent
Hypothetical events and polite requests.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | importerais | I would import | |
| tu | importerais | you would import | |
| il / elle / on | importerait | he / she / it would importon: we would import / one would import | |
| nous | importerions | we would import | |
| vous | importeriez | you would import | |
| ils / elles | importeraient | they would import |
IN A SENTENCEConditional example
Paul importerait du café du Brésil.
Paul would import coffee from Brazil.
Present subjunctive Subjonctif présent
Dependent clauses expressing wishes, necessity, doubt, and certain feelings.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | importe | (that) I import | |
| tu | importes | (that) you import | |
| il / elle / on | importe | (that) he / she / it importson: (that) we import / one imports | |
| nous | importions | (that) we import | |
| vous | importiez | (that) you import | |
| ils / elles | importent | (that) they import |
IN A SENTENCEPresent subjunctive example
Il est possible que Paul importe du café du Brésil.
It is possible that Paul imports coffee from Brazil.
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 import
- to matter, to be relevant, to be important
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