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 interest.”
Present Présent
Habits, current states, and actions happening now.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | intéresse | I interest | |
| tu | intéresses | you interest | |
| il / elle / on | intéresse | he / she / it interestson: we interest / one interests | |
| nous | intéressons | we interest | |
| vous | intéressez | you interest | |
| ils / elles | intéressent | they interest |
IN A SENTENCEPresent example
Ce livre intéresse Paul.
This book interests Paul.
Passé composé
Completed past events, using avoir or être plus a past participle.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | ai intéressé | I interested | |
| tu | as intéressé | you interested | |
| il / elle / on | a intéressé | he / she / it interestedon: we interested / one interested | |
| nous | avons intéressé | we interested | |
| vous | avez intéressé | you interested | |
| ils / elles | ont intéressé | they interested |
IN A SENTENCEPassé composé example
Hier, ce livre a intéressé Paul.
Yesterday, this book interested 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’ | intéressais | I interested | |
| tu | intéressais | you interested | |
| il / elle / on | intéressait | he / she / it interestedon: we interested / one interested | |
| nous | intéressions | we interested | |
| vous | intéressiez | you interested | |
| ils / elles | intéressaient | they interested |
IN A SENTENCEImperfect example
Autrefois, ce livre intéressait Paul.
Back then, this book interested Paul.
Future Futur simple
Future events and predictions.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | intéresserai | I will interest | |
| tu | intéresseras | you will interest | |
| il / elle / on | intéressera | he / she / it will intereston: we will interest / one will interest | |
| nous | intéresserons | we will interest | |
| vous | intéresserez | you will interest | |
| ils / elles | intéresseront | they will interest |
IN A SENTENCEFuture example
Plus tard, ce livre intéressera Paul.
Later, this book will interest Paul.
Conditional Conditionnel présent
Hypothetical events and polite requests.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | intéresserais | I would interest | |
| tu | intéresserais | you would interest | |
| il / elle / on | intéresserait | he / she / it would intereston: we would interest / one would interest | |
| nous | intéresserions | we would interest | |
| vous | intéresseriez | you would interest | |
| ils / elles | intéresseraient | they would interest |
IN A SENTENCEConditional example
Ce livre intéresserait Paul.
This book would interest Paul.
Present subjunctive Subjonctif présent
Dependent clauses expressing wishes, necessity, doubt, and certain feelings.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | intéresse | (that) I interest | |
| tu | intéresses | (that) you interest | |
| il / elle / on | intéresse | (that) he / she / it interestson: (that) we interest / one interests | |
| nous | intéressions | (that) we interest | |
| vous | intéressiez | (that) you interest | |
| ils / elles | intéressent | (that) they interest |
IN A SENTENCEPresent subjunctive example
Il est possible que ce livre intéresse Paul.
It is possible that this book interests 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 interest; to make interested
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