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 justify.”
Present Présent
Habits, current states, and actions happening now.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | justifie | I justify | |
| tu | justifies | you justify | |
| il / elle / on | justifie | he / she / it justifieson: we justify / one justifies | |
| nous | justifions | we justify | |
| vous | justifiez | you justify | |
| ils / elles | justifient | they justify |
IN A SENTENCEPresent example
Paul justifie son choix avec des exemples.
Paul justifies his choice with examples.
Passé composé
Completed past events, using avoir or être plus a past participle.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | ai justifié | I justified | |
| tu | as justifié | you justified | |
| il / elle / on | a justifié | he / she / it justifiedon: we justified / one justified | |
| nous | avons justifié | we justified | |
| vous | avez justifié | you justified | |
| ils / elles | ont justifié | they justified |
IN A SENTENCEPassé composé example
Hier, Paul a justifié son choix avec des exemples.
Yesterday, Paul justified his choice with examples.
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’ | justifiais | I used to justify | |
| tu | justifiais | you used to justify | |
| il / elle / on | justifiait | he / she / it used to justifyon: we used to justify / one used to justify | |
| nous | justifiions | we used to justify | |
| vous | justifiiez | you used to justify | |
| ils / elles | justifiaient | they used to justify |
IN A SENTENCEImperfect example
Autrefois, Paul justifiait son choix avec des exemples.
Back then, Paul used to justify his choice with examples.
Future Futur simple
Future events and predictions.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | justifierai | I will justify | |
| tu | justifieras | you will justify | |
| il / elle / on | justifiera | he / she / it will justifyon: we will justify / one will justify | |
| nous | justifierons | we will justify | |
| vous | justifierez | you will justify | |
| ils / elles | justifieront | they will justify |
IN A SENTENCEFuture example
Plus tard, Paul justifiera son choix avec des exemples.
Later, Paul will justify his choice with examples.
Conditional Conditionnel présent
Hypothetical events and polite requests.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | justifierais | I would justify | |
| tu | justifierais | you would justify | |
| il / elle / on | justifierait | he / she / it would justifyon: we would justify / one would justify | |
| nous | justifierions | we would justify | |
| vous | justifieriez | you would justify | |
| ils / elles | justifieraient | they would justify |
IN A SENTENCEConditional example
Paul justifierait son choix avec des exemples.
Paul would justify his choice with examples.
Present subjunctive Subjonctif présent
Dependent clauses expressing wishes, necessity, doubt, and certain feelings.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | justifie | (that) I justify | |
| tu | justifies | (that) you justify | |
| il / elle / on | justifie | (that) he / she / it justifieson: (that) we justify / one justifies | |
| nous | justifiions | (that) we justify | |
| vous | justifiiez | (that) you justify | |
| ils / elles | justifient | (that) they justify |
IN A SENTENCEPresent subjunctive example
Il est possible que Paul justifie son choix avec des exemples.
It is possible that Paul justifies his choice with examples.
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 justify
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