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 read.”
Present Présent
Habits, current states, and actions happening now.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | lis | I read | |
| tu | lis | you read | |
| il / elle / on | lit | he / she / it readson: we read / one reads | |
| nous | lisons | we read | |
| vous | lisez | you read | |
| ils / elles | lisent | they read |
IN A SENTENCEPresent example
Paul lit un roman français.
Paul reads a French novel.
Passé composé
Completed past events, using avoir or être plus a past participle.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | ai lu | I read | |
| tu | as lu | you read | |
| il / elle / on | a lu | he / she / it readon: we read / one read | |
| nous | avons lu | we read | |
| vous | avez lu | you read | |
| ils / elles | ont lu | they read |
IN A SENTENCEPassé composé example
Hier, Paul a lu un roman français.
Yesterday, Paul read a French novel.
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’ | lisais | I used to read | |
| tu | lisais | you used to read | |
| il / elle / on | lisait | he / she / it used to readon: we used to read / one used to read | |
| nous | lisions | we used to read | |
| vous | lisiez | you used to read | |
| ils / elles | lisaient | they used to read |
IN A SENTENCEImperfect example
Autrefois, Paul lisait un roman français.
Back then, Paul used to read a French novel.
Future Futur simple
Future events and predictions.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | lirai | I will read | |
| tu | liras | you will read | |
| il / elle / on | lira | he / she / it will readon: we will read / one will read | |
| nous | lirons | we will read | |
| vous | lirez | you will read | |
| ils / elles | liront | they will read |
IN A SENTENCEFuture example
Plus tard, Paul lira un roman français.
Later, Paul will read a French novel.
Conditional Conditionnel présent
Hypothetical events and polite requests.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | lirais | I would read | |
| tu | lirais | you would read | |
| il / elle / on | lirait | he / she / it would readon: we would read / one would read | |
| nous | lirions | we would read | |
| vous | liriez | you would read | |
| ils / elles | liraient | they would read |
IN A SENTENCEConditional example
Paul lirait un roman français.
Paul would read a French novel.
Present subjunctive Subjonctif présent
Dependent clauses expressing wishes, necessity, doubt, and certain feelings.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | lise | (that) I read | |
| tu | lises | (that) you read | |
| il / elle / on | lise | (that) he / she / it readson: (that) we read / one reads | |
| nous | lisions | (that) we read | |
| vous | lisiez | (that) you read | |
| ils / elles | lisent | (that) they read |
IN A SENTENCEPresent subjunctive example
Il est possible que Paul lise un roman français.
It is possible that Paul reads a French novel.
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 read
- to play
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