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 lick.”
Present Présent
Habits, current states, and actions happening now.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | lèche | I lick | |
| tu | lèches | you lick | |
| il / elle / on | lèche | he / she / it lickson: we lick / one licks | |
| nous | léchons | we lick | |
| vous | léchez | you lick | |
| ils / elles | lèchent | they lick |
IN A SENTENCEPresent example
Le chat lèche le bord de la gamelle.
The cat licks the edge of the bowl.
Passé composé
Completed past events, using avoir or être plus a past participle.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | ai léché | I licked | |
| tu | as léché | you licked | |
| il / elle / on | a léché | he / she / it lickedon: we licked / one licked | |
| nous | avons léché | we licked | |
| vous | avez léché | you licked | |
| ils / elles | ont léché | they licked |
IN A SENTENCEPassé composé example
Hier, le chat a léché le bord de la gamelle.
Yesterday, the cat licked the edge of the bowl.
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’ | léchais | I used to lick | |
| tu | léchais | you used to lick | |
| il / elle / on | léchait | he / she / it used to lickon: we used to lick / one used to lick | |
| nous | léchions | we used to lick | |
| vous | léchiez | you used to lick | |
| ils / elles | léchaient | they used to lick |
IN A SENTENCEImperfect example
Autrefois, le chat léchait le bord de la gamelle.
Back then, the cat used to lick the edge of the bowl.
Future Futur simple
Future events and predictions.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | lècherai / lécherai | I will lick | |
| tu | lècheras / lécheras | you will lick | |
| il / elle / on | lèchera / léchera | he / she / it will lickon: we will lick / one will lick | |
| nous | lècherons / lécherons | we will lick | |
| vous | lècherez / lécherez | you will lick | |
| ils / elles | lècheront / lécheront | they will lick |
IN A SENTENCEFuture example
Plus tard, le chat lèchera le bord de la gamelle.
Later, the cat will lick the edge of the bowl.
Conditional Conditionnel présent
Hypothetical events and polite requests.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | lècherais / lécherais | I would lick | |
| tu | lècherais / lécherais | you would lick | |
| il / elle / on | lècherait / lécherait | he / she / it would lickon: we would lick / one would lick | |
| nous | lècherions / lécherions | we would lick | |
| vous | lècheriez / lécheriez | you would lick | |
| ils / elles | lècheraient / lécheraient | they would lick |
IN A SENTENCEConditional example
Le chat lècherait le bord de la gamelle.
The cat would lick the edge of the bowl.
Present subjunctive Subjonctif présent
Dependent clauses expressing wishes, necessity, doubt, and certain feelings.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | lèche | (that) I lick | |
| tu | lèches | (that) you lick | |
| il / elle / on | lèche | (that) he / she / it lickson: (that) we lick / one licks | |
| nous | léchions | (that) we lick | |
| vous | léchiez | (that) you lick | |
| ils / elles | lèchent | (that) they lick |
IN A SENTENCEPresent subjunctive example
Il est possible que le chat lèche le bord de la gamelle.
It is possible that the cat licks the edge of the bowl.
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 lick
- to polish, to refine (one's work)
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