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 operate.”
Present Présent
Habits, current states, and actions happening now.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | opère | I operate | |
| tu | opères | you operate | |
| il / elle / on | opère | he / she / it operateson: we operate / one operates | |
| nous | opérons | we operate | |
| vous | opérez | you operate | |
| ils / elles | opèrent | they operate |
IN A SENTENCEPresent example
Le chirurgien opère le patient à l'hôpital.
The surgeon operates on the patient at the hospital.
Passé composé
Completed past events, using avoir or être plus a past participle.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | ai opéré | I operated | |
| tu | as opéré | you operated | |
| il / elle / on | a opéré | he / she / it operatedon: we operated / one operated | |
| nous | avons opéré | we operated | |
| vous | avez opéré | you operated | |
| ils / elles | ont opéré | they operated |
IN A SENTENCEPassé composé example
Hier, le chirurgien a opéré le patient à l'hôpital.
Yesterday, the surgeon operated on the patient at the hospital.
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’ | opérais | I used to operate | |
| tu | opérais | you used to operate | |
| il / elle / on | opérait | he / she / it used to operateon: we used to operate / one used to operate | |
| nous | opérions | we used to operate | |
| vous | opériez | you used to operate | |
| ils / elles | opéraient | they used to operate |
IN A SENTENCEImperfect example
Autrefois, le chirurgien opérait le patient à l'hôpital.
Back then, the surgeon used to operate on the patient at the hospital.
Future Futur simple
Future events and predictions.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | opèrerai / opérerai | I will operate | |
| tu | opèreras / opéreras | you will operate | |
| il / elle / on | opèrera / opérera | he / she / it will operateon: we will operate / one will operate | |
| nous | opèrerons / opérerons | we will operate | |
| vous | opèrerez / opérerez | you will operate | |
| ils / elles | opèreront / opéreront | they will operate |
IN A SENTENCEFuture example
Plus tard, le chirurgien opèrera le patient à l'hôpital.
Later, the surgeon will operate on the patient at the hospital.
Conditional Conditionnel présent
Hypothetical events and polite requests.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | opèrerais / opérerais | I would operate | |
| tu | opèrerais / opérerais | you would operate | |
| il / elle / on | opèrerait / opérerait | he / she / it would operateon: we would operate / one would operate | |
| nous | opèrerions / opérerions | we would operate | |
| vous | opèreriez / opéreriez | you would operate | |
| ils / elles | opèreraient / opéreraient | they would operate |
IN A SENTENCEConditional example
Le chirurgien opèrerait le patient à l'hôpital.
The surgeon would operate on the patient at the hospital.
Present subjunctive Subjonctif présent
Dependent clauses expressing wishes, necessity, doubt, and certain feelings.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | opère | (that) I operate | |
| tu | opères | (that) you operate | |
| il / elle / on | opère | (that) he / she / it operateson: (that) we operate / one operates | |
| nous | opérions | (that) we operate | |
| vous | opériez | (that) you operate | |
| ils / elles | opèrent | (that) they operate |
IN A SENTENCEPresent subjunctive example
Il est possible que le chirurgien opère le patient à l'hôpital.
It is possible that the surgeon operates on the patient at the 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.”
Meaning & usage
- to operate (on)
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