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 insist.”
Present Présent
Habits, current states, and actions happening now.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | insiste | I insist | |
| tu | insistes | you insist | |
| il / elle / on | insiste | he / she / it insistson: we insist / one insists | |
| nous | insistons | we insist | |
| vous | insistez | you insist | |
| ils / elles | insistent | they insist |
IN A SENTENCEPresent example
Paul insiste sur la nécessité de partir tôt.
Paul insists on the need to leave early.
Passé composé
Completed past events, using avoir or être plus a past participle.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | ai insisté | I insisted | |
| tu | as insisté | you insisted | |
| il / elle / on | a insisté | he / she / it insistedon: we insisted / one insisted | |
| nous | avons insisté | we insisted | |
| vous | avez insisté | you insisted | |
| ils / elles | ont insisté | they insisted |
IN A SENTENCEPassé composé example
Hier, Paul a insisté sur la nécessité de partir tôt.
Yesterday, Paul insisted on the need to leave early.
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’ | insistais | I used to insist | |
| tu | insistais | you used to insist | |
| il / elle / on | insistait | he / she / it used to insiston: we used to insist / one used to insist | |
| nous | insistions | we used to insist | |
| vous | insistiez | you used to insist | |
| ils / elles | insistaient | they used to insist |
IN A SENTENCEImperfect example
Autrefois, Paul insistait sur la nécessité de partir tôt.
Back then, Paul used to insist on the need to leave early.
Future Futur simple
Future events and predictions.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | insisterai | I will insist | |
| tu | insisteras | you will insist | |
| il / elle / on | insistera | he / she / it will insiston: we will insist / one will insist | |
| nous | insisterons | we will insist | |
| vous | insisterez | you will insist | |
| ils / elles | insisteront | they will insist |
IN A SENTENCEFuture example
Plus tard, Paul insistera sur la nécessité de partir tôt.
Later, Paul will insist on the need to leave early.
Conditional Conditionnel présent
Hypothetical events and polite requests.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | insisterais | I would insist | |
| tu | insisterais | you would insist | |
| il / elle / on | insisterait | he / she / it would insiston: we would insist / one would insist | |
| nous | insisterions | we would insist | |
| vous | insisteriez | you would insist | |
| ils / elles | insisteraient | they would insist |
IN A SENTENCEConditional example
Paul insisterait sur la nécessité de partir tôt.
Paul would insist on the need to leave early.
Present subjunctive Subjonctif présent
Dependent clauses expressing wishes, necessity, doubt, and certain feelings.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | insiste | (that) I insist | |
| tu | insistes | (that) you insist | |
| il / elle / on | insiste | (that) he / she / it insistson: (that) we insist / one insists | |
| nous | insistions | (that) we insist | |
| vous | insistiez | (that) you insist | |
| ils / elles | insistent | (that) they insist |
IN A SENTENCEPresent subjunctive example
Il est possible que Paul insiste sur la nécessité de partir tôt.
It is possible that Paul insists on the need to leave early.
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 insist, emphasize
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