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 observe.”
Present Présent
Habits, current states, and actions happening now.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | observe | I observe | |
| tu | observes | you observe | |
| il / elle / on | observe | he / she / it observeson: we observe / one observes | |
| nous | observons | we observe | |
| vous | observez | you observe | |
| ils / elles | observent | they observe |
IN A SENTENCEPresent example
Paul observe les oiseaux dans le jardin.
Paul observes the birds in the garden.
Passé composé
Completed past events, using avoir or être plus a past participle.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | ai observé | I observed | |
| tu | as observé | you observed | |
| il / elle / on | a observé | he / she / it observedon: we observed / one observed | |
| nous | avons observé | we observed | |
| vous | avez observé | you observed | |
| ils / elles | ont observé | they observed |
IN A SENTENCEPassé composé example
Hier, Paul a observé les oiseaux dans le jardin.
Yesterday, Paul observed the birds in the garden.
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’ | observais | I used to observe | |
| tu | observais | you used to observe | |
| il / elle / on | observait | he / she / it used to observeon: we used to observe / one used to observe | |
| nous | observions | we used to observe | |
| vous | observiez | you used to observe | |
| ils / elles | observaient | they used to observe |
IN A SENTENCEImperfect example
Autrefois, Paul observait les oiseaux dans le jardin.
Back then, Paul used to observe the birds in the garden.
Future Futur simple
Future events and predictions.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | observerai | I will observe | |
| tu | observeras | you will observe | |
| il / elle / on | observera | he / she / it will observeon: we will observe / one will observe | |
| nous | observerons | we will observe | |
| vous | observerez | you will observe | |
| ils / elles | observeront | they will observe |
IN A SENTENCEFuture example
Plus tard, Paul observera les oiseaux dans le jardin.
Later, Paul will observe the birds in the garden.
Conditional Conditionnel présent
Hypothetical events and polite requests.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | observerais | I would observe | |
| tu | observerais | you would observe | |
| il / elle / on | observerait | he / she / it would observeon: we would observe / one would observe | |
| nous | observerions | we would observe | |
| vous | observeriez | you would observe | |
| ils / elles | observeraient | they would observe |
IN A SENTENCEConditional example
Paul observerait les oiseaux dans le jardin.
Paul would observe the birds in the garden.
Present subjunctive Subjonctif présent
Dependent clauses expressing wishes, necessity, doubt, and certain feelings.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | observe | (that) I observe | |
| tu | observes | (that) you observe | |
| il / elle / on | observe | (that) he / she / it observeson: (that) we observe / one observes | |
| nous | observions | (that) we observe | |
| vous | observiez | (that) you observe | |
| ils / elles | observent | (that) they observe |
IN A SENTENCEPresent subjunctive example
Il est possible que Paul observe les oiseaux dans le jardin.
It is possible that Paul observes the birds in the garden.
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 observe, watch
- to note, notice
- to keep, maintain
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