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 feed.”
Present Présent
Habits, current states, and actions happening now.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | nourris | I feed | |
| tu | nourris | you feed | |
| il / elle / on | nourrit | he / she / it feedson: we feed / one feeds | |
| nous | nourrissons | we feed | |
| vous | nourrissez | you feed | |
| ils / elles | nourrissent | they feed |
IN A SENTENCEPresent example
Paul nourrit le chat de son voisin.
Paul feeds his neighbor's cat.
Passé composé
Completed past events, using avoir or être plus a past participle.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | ai nourri | I fed | |
| tu | as nourri | you fed | |
| il / elle / on | a nourri | he / she / it fedon: we fed / one fed | |
| nous | avons nourri | we fed | |
| vous | avez nourri | you fed | |
| ils / elles | ont nourri | they fed |
IN A SENTENCEPassé composé example
Hier, Paul a nourri le chat de son voisin.
Yesterday, Paul fed his neighbor's cat.
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’ | nourrissais | I used to feed | |
| tu | nourrissais | you used to feed | |
| il / elle / on | nourrissait | he / she / it used to feedon: we used to feed / one used to feed | |
| nous | nourrissions | we used to feed | |
| vous | nourrissiez | you used to feed | |
| ils / elles | nourrissaient | they used to feed |
IN A SENTENCEImperfect example
Autrefois, Paul nourrissait le chat de son voisin.
Back then, Paul used to feed his neighbor's cat.
Future Futur simple
Future events and predictions.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | nourrirai | I will feed | |
| tu | nourriras | you will feed | |
| il / elle / on | nourrira | he / she / it will feedon: we will feed / one will feed | |
| nous | nourrirons | we will feed | |
| vous | nourrirez | you will feed | |
| ils / elles | nourriront | they will feed |
IN A SENTENCEFuture example
Plus tard, Paul nourrira le chat de son voisin.
Later, Paul will feed his neighbor's cat.
Conditional Conditionnel présent
Hypothetical events and polite requests.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | nourrirais | I would feed | |
| tu | nourrirais | you would feed | |
| il / elle / on | nourrirait | he / she / it would feedon: we would feed / one would feed | |
| nous | nourririons | we would feed | |
| vous | nourririez | you would feed | |
| ils / elles | nourriraient | they would feed |
IN A SENTENCEConditional example
Paul nourrirait le chat de son voisin.
Paul would feed his neighbor's cat.
Present subjunctive Subjonctif présent
Dependent clauses expressing wishes, necessity, doubt, and certain feelings.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | nourrisse | (that) I feed | |
| tu | nourrisses | (that) you feed | |
| il / elle / on | nourrisse | (that) he / she / it feedson: (that) we feed / one feeds | |
| nous | nourrissions | (that) we feed | |
| vous | nourrissiez | (that) you feed | |
| ils / elles | nourrissent | (that) they feed |
IN A SENTENCEPresent subjunctive example
Il est possible que Paul nourrisse le chat de son voisin.
It is possible that Paul feeds his neighbor's cat.
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 feed (provide with nourishment), nourish
- to nurture, to fuel
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