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 ponder.”
Present Présent
Habits, current states, and actions happening now.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | médite | I ponder | |
| tu | médites | you ponder | |
| il / elle / on | médite | he / she / it ponderson: we ponder / one ponders | |
| nous | méditons | we ponder | |
| vous | méditez | you ponder | |
| ils / elles | méditent | they ponder |
IN A SENTENCEPresent example
Paul médite les paroles de son professeur.
Paul ponders his teacher's words.
Passé composé
Completed past events, using avoir or être plus a past participle.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | ai médité | I pondered | |
| tu | as médité | you pondered | |
| il / elle / on | a médité | he / she / it ponderedon: we pondered / one pondered | |
| nous | avons médité | we pondered | |
| vous | avez médité | you pondered | |
| ils / elles | ont médité | they pondered |
IN A SENTENCEPassé composé example
Hier, Paul a médité les paroles de son professeur.
Yesterday, Paul pondered his teacher's words.
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’ | méditais | I used to ponder | |
| tu | méditais | you used to ponder | |
| il / elle / on | méditait | he / she / it used to ponderon: we used to ponder / one used to ponder | |
| nous | méditions | we used to ponder | |
| vous | méditiez | you used to ponder | |
| ils / elles | méditaient | they used to ponder |
IN A SENTENCEImperfect example
Autrefois, Paul méditait les paroles de son professeur.
Back then, Paul used to ponder his teacher's words.
Future Futur simple
Future events and predictions.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | méditerai | I will ponder | |
| tu | méditeras | you will ponder | |
| il / elle / on | méditera | he / she / it will ponderon: we will ponder / one will ponder | |
| nous | méditerons | we will ponder | |
| vous | méditerez | you will ponder | |
| ils / elles | méditeront | they will ponder |
IN A SENTENCEFuture example
Plus tard, Paul méditera les paroles de son professeur.
Later, Paul will ponder his teacher's words.
Conditional Conditionnel présent
Hypothetical events and polite requests.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | méditerais | I would ponder | |
| tu | méditerais | you would ponder | |
| il / elle / on | méditerait | he / she / it would ponderon: we would ponder / one would ponder | |
| nous | méditerions | we would ponder | |
| vous | méditeriez | you would ponder | |
| ils / elles | méditeraient | they would ponder |
IN A SENTENCEConditional example
Paul méditerait les paroles de son professeur.
Paul would ponder his teacher's words.
Present subjunctive Subjonctif présent
Dependent clauses expressing wishes, necessity, doubt, and certain feelings.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | médite | (that) I ponder | |
| tu | médites | (that) you ponder | |
| il / elle / on | médite | (that) he / she / it ponderson: (that) we ponder / one ponders | |
| nous | méditions | (that) we ponder | |
| vous | méditiez | (that) you ponder | |
| ils / elles | méditent | (that) they ponder |
IN A SENTENCEPresent subjunctive example
Il est possible que Paul médite les paroles de son professeur.
It is possible that Paul ponders his teacher's words.
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 think over, ponder, reflect on
- to meditate
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