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 limit.”
Present Présent
Habits, current states, and actions happening now.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | limite | I limit | |
| tu | limites | you limit | |
| il / elle / on | limite | he / she / it limitson: we limit / one limits | |
| nous | limitons | we limit | |
| vous | limitez | you limit | |
| ils / elles | limitent | they limit |
IN A SENTENCEPresent example
Paul limite l'accès à cette zone.
Paul limits access to this area.
Passé composé
Completed past events, using avoir or être plus a past participle.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | ai limité | I limited | |
| tu | as limité | you limited | |
| il / elle / on | a limité | he / she / it limitedon: we limited / one limited | |
| nous | avons limité | we limited | |
| vous | avez limité | you limited | |
| ils / elles | ont limité | they limited |
IN A SENTENCEPassé composé example
Hier, Paul a limité l'accès à cette zone.
Yesterday, Paul limited access to this area.
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’ | limitais | I used to limit | |
| tu | limitais | you used to limit | |
| il / elle / on | limitait | he / she / it used to limiton: we used to limit / one used to limit | |
| nous | limitions | we used to limit | |
| vous | limitiez | you used to limit | |
| ils / elles | limitaient | they used to limit |
IN A SENTENCEImperfect example
Autrefois, Paul limitait l'accès à cette zone.
Back then, Paul used to limit access to this area.
Future Futur simple
Future events and predictions.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | limiterai | I will limit | |
| tu | limiteras | you will limit | |
| il / elle / on | limitera | he / she / it will limiton: we will limit / one will limit | |
| nous | limiterons | we will limit | |
| vous | limiterez | you will limit | |
| ils / elles | limiteront | they will limit |
IN A SENTENCEFuture example
Plus tard, Paul limitera l'accès à cette zone.
Later, Paul will limit access to this area.
Conditional Conditionnel présent
Hypothetical events and polite requests.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | limiterais | I would limit | |
| tu | limiterais | you would limit | |
| il / elle / on | limiterait | he / she / it would limiton: we would limit / one would limit | |
| nous | limiterions | we would limit | |
| vous | limiteriez | you would limit | |
| ils / elles | limiteraient | they would limit |
IN A SENTENCEConditional example
Paul limiterait l'accès à cette zone.
Paul would limit access to this area.
Present subjunctive Subjonctif présent
Dependent clauses expressing wishes, necessity, doubt, and certain feelings.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | limite | (that) I limit | |
| tu | limites | (that) you limit | |
| il / elle / on | limite | (that) he / she / it limitson: (that) we limit / one limits | |
| nous | limitions | (that) we limit | |
| vous | limitiez | (that) you limit | |
| ils / elles | limitent | (that) they limit |
IN A SENTENCEPresent subjunctive example
Il est possible que Paul limite l'accès à cette zone.
It is possible that Paul limits access to this area.
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 mark, to limit (to show a physical limit or boundary)
- to limit (to state a limit for)
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