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 inform.”
Present Présent
Habits, current states, and actions happening now.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | informe | I inform | |
| tu | informes | you inform | |
| il / elle / on | informe | he / she / it informson: we inform / one informs | |
| nous | informons | we inform | |
| vous | informez | you inform | |
| ils / elles | informent | they inform |
IN A SENTENCEPresent example
Paul informe ses voisins du changement.
Paul informs his neighbors about the change.
Passé composé
Completed past events, using avoir or être plus a past participle.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | ai informé | I informed | |
| tu | as informé | you informed | |
| il / elle / on | a informé | he / she / it informedon: we informed / one informed | |
| nous | avons informé | we informed | |
| vous | avez informé | you informed | |
| ils / elles | ont informé | they informed |
IN A SENTENCEPassé composé example
Hier, Paul a informé ses voisins du changement.
Yesterday, Paul informed his neighbors about the change.
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’ | informais | I used to inform | |
| tu | informais | you used to inform | |
| il / elle / on | informait | he / she / it used to informon: we used to inform / one used to inform | |
| nous | informions | we used to inform | |
| vous | informiez | you used to inform | |
| ils / elles | informaient | they used to inform |
IN A SENTENCEImperfect example
Autrefois, Paul informait ses voisins du changement.
Back then, Paul used to inform his neighbors about the change.
Future Futur simple
Future events and predictions.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | informerai | I will inform | |
| tu | informeras | you will inform | |
| il / elle / on | informera | he / she / it will informon: we will inform / one will inform | |
| nous | informerons | we will inform | |
| vous | informerez | you will inform | |
| ils / elles | informeront | they will inform |
IN A SENTENCEFuture example
Plus tard, Paul informera ses voisins du changement.
Later, Paul will inform his neighbors about the change.
Conditional Conditionnel présent
Hypothetical events and polite requests.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | informerais | I would inform | |
| tu | informerais | you would inform | |
| il / elle / on | informerait | he / she / it would informon: we would inform / one would inform | |
| nous | informerions | we would inform | |
| vous | informeriez | you would inform | |
| ils / elles | informeraient | they would inform |
IN A SENTENCEConditional example
Paul informerait ses voisins du changement.
Paul would inform his neighbors about the change.
Present subjunctive Subjonctif présent
Dependent clauses expressing wishes, necessity, doubt, and certain feelings.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | informe | (that) I inform | |
| tu | informes | (that) you inform | |
| il / elle / on | informe | (that) he / she / it informson: (that) we inform / one informs | |
| nous | informions | (that) we inform | |
| vous | informiez | (that) you inform | |
| ils / elles | informent | (that) they inform |
IN A SENTENCEPresent subjunctive example
Il est possible que Paul informe ses voisins du changement.
It is possible that Paul informs his neighbors about the change.
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 inform; to enlighten; to impart knowledge (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