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 influence.”
Present Présent
Habits, current states, and actions happening now.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | influence | I influence | |
| tu | influences | you influence | |
| il / elle / on | influence | he / she / it influenceson: we influence / one influences | |
| nous | influençons | we influence | |
| vous | influencez | you influence | |
| ils / elles | influencent | they influence |
IN A SENTENCEPresent example
Ce livre influence les choix de Paul.
This book influences Paul's choices.
Passé composé
Completed past events, using avoir or être plus a past participle.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | ai influencé | I influenced | |
| tu | as influencé | you influenced | |
| il / elle / on | a influencé | he / she / it influencedon: we influenced / one influenced | |
| nous | avons influencé | we influenced | |
| vous | avez influencé | you influenced | |
| ils / elles | ont influencé | they influenced |
IN A SENTENCEPassé composé example
Hier, ce livre a influencé les choix de Paul.
Yesterday, this book influenced Paul's choices.
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’ | influençais | I used to influence | |
| tu | influençais | you used to influence | |
| il / elle / on | influençait | he / she / it used to influenceon: we used to influence / one used to influence | |
| nous | influencions | we used to influence | |
| vous | influenciez | you used to influence | |
| ils / elles | influençaient | they used to influence |
IN A SENTENCEImperfect example
Autrefois, ce livre influençait les choix de Paul.
Back then, this book used to influence Paul's choices.
Future Futur simple
Future events and predictions.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | influencerai | I will influence | |
| tu | influenceras | you will influence | |
| il / elle / on | influencera | he / she / it will influenceon: we will influence / one will influence | |
| nous | influencerons | we will influence | |
| vous | influencerez | you will influence | |
| ils / elles | influenceront | they will influence |
IN A SENTENCEFuture example
Plus tard, ce livre influencera les choix de Paul.
Later, this book will influence Paul's choices.
Conditional Conditionnel présent
Hypothetical events and polite requests.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | influencerais | I would influence | |
| tu | influencerais | you would influence | |
| il / elle / on | influencerait | he / she / it would influenceon: we would influence / one would influence | |
| nous | influencerions | we would influence | |
| vous | influenceriez | you would influence | |
| ils / elles | influenceraient | they would influence |
IN A SENTENCEConditional example
Ce livre influencerait les choix de Paul.
This book would influence Paul's choices.
Present subjunctive Subjonctif présent
Dependent clauses expressing wishes, necessity, doubt, and certain feelings.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | influence | (that) I influence | |
| tu | influences | (that) you influence | |
| il / elle / on | influence | (that) he / she / it influenceson: (that) we influence / one influences | |
| nous | influencions | (that) we influence | |
| vous | influenciez | (that) you influence | |
| ils / elles | influencent | (that) they influence |
IN A SENTENCEPresent subjunctive example
Il est possible que ce livre influence les choix de Paul.
It is possible that this book influences Paul's choices.
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
- influence (to exert an influence upon)
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