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 impress.”
Present Présent
Habits, current states, and actions happening now.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | impressionne | I impress | |
| tu | impressionnes | you impress | |
| il / elle / on | impressionne | he / she / it impresseson: we impress / one impresses | |
| nous | impressionnons | we impress | |
| vous | impressionnez | you impress | |
| ils / elles | impressionnent | they impress |
IN A SENTENCEPresent example
Le spectacle impressionne Paul.
The show impresses Paul.
Passé composé
Completed past events, using avoir or être plus a past participle.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | ai impressionné | I impressed | |
| tu | as impressionné | you impressed | |
| il / elle / on | a impressionné | he / she / it impressedon: we impressed / one impressed | |
| nous | avons impressionné | we impressed | |
| vous | avez impressionné | you impressed | |
| ils / elles | ont impressionné | they impressed |
IN A SENTENCEPassé composé example
Hier, le spectacle a impressionné Paul.
Yesterday, the show impressed Paul.
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’ | impressionnais | I used to impress | |
| tu | impressionnais | you used to impress | |
| il / elle / on | impressionnait | he / she / it used to impresson: we used to impress / one used to impress | |
| nous | impressionnions | we used to impress | |
| vous | impressionniez | you used to impress | |
| ils / elles | impressionnaient | they used to impress |
IN A SENTENCEImperfect example
Autrefois, le spectacle impressionnait Paul.
Back then, the show used to impress Paul.
Future Futur simple
Future events and predictions.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | impressionnerai | I will impress | |
| tu | impressionneras | you will impress | |
| il / elle / on | impressionnera | he / she / it will impresson: we will impress / one will impress | |
| nous | impressionnerons | we will impress | |
| vous | impressionnerez | you will impress | |
| ils / elles | impressionneront | they will impress |
IN A SENTENCEFuture example
Plus tard, le spectacle impressionnera Paul.
Later, the show will impress Paul.
Conditional Conditionnel présent
Hypothetical events and polite requests.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | impressionnerais | I would impress | |
| tu | impressionnerais | you would impress | |
| il / elle / on | impressionnerait | he / she / it would impresson: we would impress / one would impress | |
| nous | impressionnerions | we would impress | |
| vous | impressionneriez | you would impress | |
| ils / elles | impressionneraient | they would impress |
IN A SENTENCEConditional example
Le spectacle impressionnerait Paul.
The show would impress Paul.
Present subjunctive Subjonctif présent
Dependent clauses expressing wishes, necessity, doubt, and certain feelings.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | impressionne | (that) I impress | |
| tu | impressionnes | (that) you impress | |
| il / elle / on | impressionne | (that) he / she / it impresseson: (that) we impress / one impresses | |
| nous | impressionnions | (that) we impress | |
| vous | impressionniez | (that) you impress | |
| ils / elles | impressionnent | (that) they impress |
IN A SENTENCEPresent subjunctive example
Il est possible que le spectacle impressionne Paul.
It is possible that the show impresses Paul.
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 impress, to wow, to awe
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