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 throw.”
Present Présent
Habits, current states, and actions happening now.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | jette | I throw | |
| tu | jettes | you throw | |
| il / elle / on | jette | he / she / it throwson: we throw / one throws | |
| nous | jetons | we throw | |
| vous | jetez | you throw | |
| ils / elles | jettent | they throw |
IN A SENTENCEPresent example
Paul jette un caillou dans l'eau.
Paul throws a pebble into the water.
Passé composé
Completed past events, using avoir or être plus a past participle.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | ai jeté | I threw | |
| tu | as jeté | you threw | |
| il / elle / on | a jeté | he / she / it threwon: we threw / one threw | |
| nous | avons jeté | we threw | |
| vous | avez jeté | you threw | |
| ils / elles | ont jeté | they threw |
IN A SENTENCEPassé composé example
Hier, Paul a jeté un caillou dans l'eau.
Yesterday, Paul threw a pebble into the water.
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’ | jetais | I used to throw | |
| tu | jetais | you used to throw | |
| il / elle / on | jetait | he / she / it used to throwon: we used to throw / one used to throw | |
| nous | jetions | we used to throw | |
| vous | jetiez | you used to throw | |
| ils / elles | jetaient | they used to throw |
IN A SENTENCEImperfect example
Autrefois, Paul jetait un caillou dans l'eau.
Back then, Paul used to throw a pebble into the water.
Future Futur simple
Future events and predictions.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | jetterai | I will throw | |
| tu | jetteras | you will throw | |
| il / elle / on | jettera | he / she / it will throwon: we will throw / one will throw | |
| nous | jetterons | we will throw | |
| vous | jetterez | you will throw | |
| ils / elles | jetteront | they will throw |
IN A SENTENCEFuture example
Plus tard, Paul jettera un caillou dans l'eau.
Later, Paul will throw a pebble into the water.
Conditional Conditionnel présent
Hypothetical events and polite requests.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | jetterais | I would throw | |
| tu | jetterais | you would throw | |
| il / elle / on | jetterait | he / she / it would throwon: we would throw / one would throw | |
| nous | jetterions | we would throw | |
| vous | jetteriez | you would throw | |
| ils / elles | jetteraient | they would throw |
IN A SENTENCEConditional example
Paul jetterait un caillou dans l'eau.
Paul would throw a pebble into the water.
Present subjunctive Subjonctif présent
Dependent clauses expressing wishes, necessity, doubt, and certain feelings.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | jette | (that) I throw | |
| tu | jettes | (that) you throw | |
| il / elle / on | jette | (that) he / she / it throwson: (that) we throw / one throws | |
| nous | jetions | (that) we throw | |
| vous | jetiez | (that) you throw | |
| ils / elles | jettent | (that) they throw |
IN A SENTENCEPresent subjunctive example
Il est possible que Paul jette un caillou dans l'eau.
It is possible that Paul throws a pebble into the water.
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 throw
- to throw away, to discard
- to throw away, discard
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