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 rent.”
Present Présent
Habits, current states, and actions happening now.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | loue | I rent | |
| tu | loues | you rent | |
| il / elle / on | loue | he / she / it rentson: we rent / one rents | |
| nous | louons | we rent | |
| vous | louez | you rent | |
| ils / elles | louent | they rent |
IN A SENTENCEPresent example
Paul loue un vélo pour la journée.
Paul rents a bicycle for the day.
Passé composé
Completed past events, using avoir or être plus a past participle.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | ai loué | I rented | |
| tu | as loué | you rented | |
| il / elle / on | a loué | he / she / it rentedon: we rented / one rented | |
| nous | avons loué | we rented | |
| vous | avez loué | you rented | |
| ils / elles | ont loué | they rented |
IN A SENTENCEPassé composé example
Hier, Paul a loué un vélo pour la journée.
Yesterday, Paul rented a bicycle for the day.
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’ | louais | I used to rent | |
| tu | louais | you used to rent | |
| il / elle / on | louait | he / she / it used to renton: we used to rent / one used to rent | |
| nous | louions | we used to rent | |
| vous | louiez | you used to rent | |
| ils / elles | louaient | they used to rent |
IN A SENTENCEImperfect example
Autrefois, Paul louait un vélo pour la journée.
Back then, Paul used to rent a bicycle for the day.
Future Futur simple
Future events and predictions.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | louerai | I will rent | |
| tu | loueras | you will rent | |
| il / elle / on | louera | he / she / it will renton: we will rent / one will rent | |
| nous | louerons | we will rent | |
| vous | louerez | you will rent | |
| ils / elles | loueront | they will rent |
IN A SENTENCEFuture example
Plus tard, Paul louera un vélo pour la journée.
Later, Paul will rent a bicycle for the day.
Conditional Conditionnel présent
Hypothetical events and polite requests.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | louerais | I would rent | |
| tu | louerais | you would rent | |
| il / elle / on | louerait | he / she / it would renton: we would rent / one would rent | |
| nous | louerions | we would rent | |
| vous | loueriez | you would rent | |
| ils / elles | loueraient | they would rent |
IN A SENTENCEConditional example
Paul louerait un vélo pour la journée.
Paul would rent a bicycle for the day.
Present subjunctive Subjonctif présent
Dependent clauses expressing wishes, necessity, doubt, and certain feelings.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | loue | (that) I rent | |
| tu | loues | (that) you rent | |
| il / elle / on | loue | (that) he / she / it rentson: (that) we rent / one rents | |
| nous | louions | (that) we rent | |
| vous | louiez | (that) you rent | |
| ils / elles | louent | (that) they rent |
IN A SENTENCEPresent subjunctive example
Il est possible que Paul loue un vélo pour la journée.
It is possible that Paul rents a bicycle for the day.
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 rent
- to lease
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