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 be born.”
Present Présent
Habits, current states, and actions happening now.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | nais | I am born | |
| tu | nais | you are born | |
| il / elle / on | naît | he / she / it is bornon: we are born / one is born | |
| nous | naissons | we are born | |
| vous | naissez | you are born | |
| ils / elles | naissent | they are born |
IN A SENTENCEPresent example
Un enfant naît dans cette maternité.
A child is born in this maternity hospital.
Passé composé
Completed past events, using avoir or être plus a past participle.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | suis né / suis née | I was born | |
| tu | es né / es née | you were born | |
| il / elle / on | est né / est née | he / she / it was bornon: we were born / one was born | |
| nous | sommes nés / sommes nées | we were born | |
| vous | êtes né / êtes née / êtes nés / êtes nées | you were born | |
| ils / elles | sont nés / sont nées | they were born |
IN A SENTENCEPassé composé example
Hier, un enfant est né dans cette maternité.
Yesterday, a child was born in this maternity hospital.
With être, the participle agrees with the subject: feminine -e, plural -s. The table gives masculine and feminine alternatives; vous may be singular or plural. With on meaning we, plural agreement is also possible.
Back to tense navigation ↑Imperfect Imparfait
Past habits, descriptions, and actions in progress.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | naissais | I was being born | |
| tu | naissais | you were being born | |
| il / elle / on | naissait | he / she / it was being bornon: we were being born / one was being born | |
| nous | naissions | we were being born | |
| vous | naissiez | you were being born | |
| ils / elles | naissaient | they were being born |
IN A SENTENCEImperfect example
Autrefois, un enfant naissait dans cette maternité.
Back then, a child was being born in this maternity hospital.
Future Futur simple
Future events and predictions.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | naîtrai | I will be born | |
| tu | naîtras | you will be born | |
| il / elle / on | naîtra | he / she / it will be bornon: we will be born / one will be born | |
| nous | naîtrons | we will be born | |
| vous | naîtrez | you will be born | |
| ils / elles | naîtront | they will be born |
IN A SENTENCEFuture example
Plus tard, un enfant naîtra dans cette maternité.
Later, a child will be born in this maternity hospital.
Conditional Conditionnel présent
Hypothetical events and polite requests.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | naîtrais | I would be born | |
| tu | naîtrais | you would be born | |
| il / elle / on | naîtrait | he / she / it would be bornon: we would be born / one would be born | |
| nous | naîtrions | we would be born | |
| vous | naîtriez | you would be born | |
| ils / elles | naîtraient | they would be born |
IN A SENTENCEConditional example
Un enfant naîtrait dans cette maternité.
A child would be born in this maternity hospital.
Present subjunctive Subjonctif présent
Dependent clauses expressing wishes, necessity, doubt, and certain feelings.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | naisse | (that) I am born | |
| tu | naisses | (that) you are born | |
| il / elle / on | naisse | (that) he / she / it is bornon: (that) we are born / one is born | |
| nous | naissions | (that) we are born | |
| vous | naissiez | (that) you are born | |
| ils / elles | naissent | (that) they are born |
IN A SENTENCEPresent subjunctive example
Il est possible qu’un enfant naisse dans cette maternité.
It is possible that a child is born in this maternity hospital.
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.”
This example uses a masculine singular subject. The imperfect describes a birth in progress rather than a repeated birth.
Meaning & usage
- to be born
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