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 invoke.”
Present Présent
Habits, current states, and actions happening now.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | invoque | I invoke | |
| tu | invoques | you invoke | |
| il / elle / on | invoque | he / she / it invokeson: we invoke / one invokes | |
| nous | invoquons | we invoke | |
| vous | invoquez | you invoke | |
| ils / elles | invoquent | they invoke |
IN A SENTENCEPresent example
Paul invoque une clause du contrat.
Paul invokes a clause in the contract.
Passé composé
Completed past events, using avoir or être plus a past participle.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | ai invoqué | I invoked | |
| tu | as invoqué | you invoked | |
| il / elle / on | a invoqué | he / she / it invokedon: we invoked / one invoked | |
| nous | avons invoqué | we invoked | |
| vous | avez invoqué | you invoked | |
| ils / elles | ont invoqué | they invoked |
IN A SENTENCEPassé composé example
Hier, Paul a invoqué une clause du contrat.
Yesterday, Paul invoked a clause in the contract.
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’ | invoquais | I used to invoke | |
| tu | invoquais | you used to invoke | |
| il / elle / on | invoquait | he / she / it used to invokeon: we used to invoke / one used to invoke | |
| nous | invoquions | we used to invoke | |
| vous | invoquiez | you used to invoke | |
| ils / elles | invoquaient | they used to invoke |
IN A SENTENCEImperfect example
Autrefois, Paul invoquait une clause du contrat.
Back then, Paul used to invoke a clause in the contract.
Future Futur simple
Future events and predictions.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | invoquerai | I will invoke | |
| tu | invoqueras | you will invoke | |
| il / elle / on | invoquera | he / she / it will invokeon: we will invoke / one will invoke | |
| nous | invoquerons | we will invoke | |
| vous | invoquerez | you will invoke | |
| ils / elles | invoqueront | they will invoke |
IN A SENTENCEFuture example
Plus tard, Paul invoquera une clause du contrat.
Later, Paul will invoke a clause in the contract.
Conditional Conditionnel présent
Hypothetical events and polite requests.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | invoquerais | I would invoke | |
| tu | invoquerais | you would invoke | |
| il / elle / on | invoquerait | he / she / it would invokeon: we would invoke / one would invoke | |
| nous | invoquerions | we would invoke | |
| vous | invoqueriez | you would invoke | |
| ils / elles | invoqueraient | they would invoke |
IN A SENTENCEConditional example
Paul invoquerait une clause du contrat.
Paul would invoke a clause in the contract.
Present subjunctive Subjonctif présent
Dependent clauses expressing wishes, necessity, doubt, and certain feelings.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | invoque | (that) I invoke | |
| tu | invoques | (that) you invoke | |
| il / elle / on | invoque | (that) he / she / it invokeson: (that) we invoke / one invokes | |
| nous | invoquions | (that) we invoke | |
| vous | invoquiez | (that) you invoke | |
| ils / elles | invoquent | (that) they invoke |
IN A SENTENCEPresent subjunctive example
Il est possible que Paul invoque une clause du contrat.
It is possible that Paul invokes a clause in the contract.
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 invoke
- to call upon (God)
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