modifier: conjugation and meaning · How to Learn French

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 change.”

Present Présent

Habits, current states, and actions happening now.

modifier: Present, with English translations
Subject	French	English
je / j’	modifie	I change
tu	modifies	you change
il / elle / on	modifie	he / she / it changeson: we change / one changes
nous	modifions	we change
vous	modifiez	you change
ils / elles	modifient	they change

IN A SENTENCEPresent example

Paul modifie la date du rendez-vous.

Paul changes the date of the appointment.

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Passé composé

Completed past events, using avoir or être plus a past participle.

modifier: Passé composé, with English translations
Subject	French	English
je / j’	ai modifié	I changed
tu	as modifié	you changed
il / elle / on	a modifié	he / she / it changedon: we changed / one changed
nous	avons modifié	we changed
vous	avez modifié	you changed
ils / elles	ont modifié	they changed

IN A SENTENCEPassé composé example

Hier, Paul a modifié la date du rendez-vous.

Yesterday, Paul changed the date of the appointment.

The passé composé uses avoir. The table shows the unmarked participle; agreement with a preceding direct object is outside this reference.

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Imperfect Imparfait

Past habits, descriptions, and actions in progress.

modifier: Imperfect, with English translations
Subject	French	English
je / j’	modifiais	I used to change
tu	modifiais	you used to change
il / elle / on	modifiait	he / she / it used to changeon: we used to change / one used to change
nous	modifiions	we used to change
vous	modifiiez	you used to change
ils / elles	modifiaient	they used to change

IN A SENTENCEImperfect example

Autrefois, Paul modifiait la date du rendez-vous.

Back then, Paul used to change the date of the appointment.

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Future Futur simple

Future events and predictions.

modifier: Future, with English translations
Subject	French	English
je / j’	modifierai	I will change
tu	modifieras	you will change
il / elle / on	modifiera	he / she / it will changeon: we will change / one will change
nous	modifierons	we will change
vous	modifierez	you will change
ils / elles	modifieront	they will change

IN A SENTENCEFuture example

Plus tard, Paul modifiera la date du rendez-vous.

Later, Paul will change the date of the appointment.

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Conditional Conditionnel présent

Hypothetical events and polite requests.

modifier: Conditional, with English translations
Subject	French	English
je / j’	modifierais	I would change
tu	modifierais	you would change
il / elle / on	modifierait	he / she / it would changeon: we would change / one would change
nous	modifierions	we would change
vous	modifieriez	you would change
ils / elles	modifieraient	they would change

IN A SENTENCEConditional example

Paul modifierait la date du rendez-vous.

Paul would change the date of the appointment.

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Present subjunctive Subjonctif présent

Dependent clauses expressing wishes, necessity, doubt, and certain feelings.

modifier: Present subjunctive, with English translations
Subject	French	English
je / j’	modifie	(that) I change
tu	modifies	(that) you change
il / elle / on	modifie	(that) he / she / it changeson: (that) we change / one changes
nous	modifiions	(that) we change
vous	modifiiez	(that) you change
ils / elles	modifient	(that) they change

IN A SENTENCEPresent subjunctive example

Il est possible que Paul modifie la date du rendez-vous.

It is possible that Paul changes the date of the appointment.

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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 change, modify

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