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 interpret.”
Present Présent
Habits, current states, and actions happening now.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | interprète | I interpret | |
| tu | interprètes | you interpret | |
| il / elle / on | interprète | he / she / it interpretson: we interpret / one interprets | |
| nous | interprétons | we interpret | |
| vous | interprétez | you interpret | |
| ils / elles | interprètent | they interpret |
IN A SENTENCEPresent example
Paul interprète les résultats de l'étude.
Paul interprets the results of the study.
Passé composé
Completed past events, using avoir or être plus a past participle.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | ai interprété | I interpreted | |
| tu | as interprété | you interpreted | |
| il / elle / on | a interprété | he / she / it interpretedon: we interpreted / one interpreted | |
| nous | avons interprété | we interpreted | |
| vous | avez interprété | you interpreted | |
| ils / elles | ont interprété | they interpreted |
IN A SENTENCEPassé composé example
Hier, Paul a interprété les résultats de l'étude.
Yesterday, Paul interpreted the results of the study.
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’ | interprétais | I used to interpret | |
| tu | interprétais | you used to interpret | |
| il / elle / on | interprétait | he / she / it used to interpreton: we used to interpret / one used to interpret | |
| nous | interprétions | we used to interpret | |
| vous | interprétiez | you used to interpret | |
| ils / elles | interprétaient | they used to interpret |
IN A SENTENCEImperfect example
Autrefois, Paul interprétait les résultats de l'étude.
Back then, Paul used to interpret the results of the study.
Future Futur simple
Future events and predictions.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | interprèterai / interpréterai | I will interpret | |
| tu | interprèteras / interpréteras | you will interpret | |
| il / elle / on | interprètera / interprétera | he / she / it will interpreton: we will interpret / one will interpret | |
| nous | interprèterons / interpréterons | we will interpret | |
| vous | interprèterez / interpréterez | you will interpret | |
| ils / elles | interprèteront / interpréteront | they will interpret |
IN A SENTENCEFuture example
Plus tard, Paul interprètera les résultats de l'étude.
Later, Paul will interpret the results of the study.
Conditional Conditionnel présent
Hypothetical events and polite requests.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | interprèterais / interpréterais | I would interpret | |
| tu | interprèterais / interpréterais | you would interpret | |
| il / elle / on | interprèterait / interpréterait | he / she / it would interpreton: we would interpret / one would interpret | |
| nous | interprèterions / interpréterions | we would interpret | |
| vous | interprèteriez / interpréteriez | you would interpret | |
| ils / elles | interprèteraient / interpréteraient | they would interpret |
IN A SENTENCEConditional example
Paul interprèterait les résultats de l'étude.
Paul would interpret the results of the study.
Present subjunctive Subjonctif présent
Dependent clauses expressing wishes, necessity, doubt, and certain feelings.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | interprète | (that) I interpret | |
| tu | interprètes | (that) you interpret | |
| il / elle / on | interprète | (that) he / she / it interpretson: (that) we interpret / one interprets | |
| nous | interprétions | (that) we interpret | |
| vous | interprétiez | (that) you interpret | |
| ils / elles | interprètent | (that) they interpret |
IN A SENTENCEPresent subjunctive example
Il est possible que Paul interprète les résultats de l'étude.
It is possible that Paul interprets the results of the study.
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 interpret
- to translate
- to construe
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