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 opt.”
Present Présent
Habits, current states, and actions happening now.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | opte | I opt | |
| tu | optes | you opt | |
| il / elle / on | opte | he / she / it optson: we opt / one opts | |
| nous | optons | we opt | |
| vous | optez | you opt | |
| ils / elles | optent | they opt |
IN A SENTENCEPresent example
Paul opte pour le trajet le plus court.
Paul opts for the shortest route.
Passé composé
Completed past events, using avoir or être plus a past participle.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | ai opté | I opted | |
| tu | as opté | you opted | |
| il / elle / on | a opté | he / she / it optedon: we opted / one opted | |
| nous | avons opté | we opted | |
| vous | avez opté | you opted | |
| ils / elles | ont opté | they opted |
IN A SENTENCEPassé composé example
Hier, Paul a opté pour le trajet le plus court.
Yesterday, Paul opted for the shortest route.
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’ | optais | I used to opt | |
| tu | optais | you used to opt | |
| il / elle / on | optait | he / she / it used to opton: we used to opt / one used to opt | |
| nous | options | we used to opt | |
| vous | optiez | you used to opt | |
| ils / elles | optaient | they used to opt |
IN A SENTENCEImperfect example
Autrefois, Paul optait pour le trajet le plus court.
Back then, Paul used to opt for the shortest route.
Future Futur simple
Future events and predictions.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | opterai | I will opt | |
| tu | opteras | you will opt | |
| il / elle / on | optera | he / she / it will opton: we will opt / one will opt | |
| nous | opterons | we will opt | |
| vous | opterez | you will opt | |
| ils / elles | opteront | they will opt |
IN A SENTENCEFuture example
Plus tard, Paul optera pour le trajet le plus court.
Later, Paul will opt for the shortest route.
Conditional Conditionnel présent
Hypothetical events and polite requests.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | opterais | I would opt | |
| tu | opterais | you would opt | |
| il / elle / on | opterait | he / she / it would opton: we would opt / one would opt | |
| nous | opterions | we would opt | |
| vous | opteriez | you would opt | |
| ils / elles | opteraient | they would opt |
IN A SENTENCEConditional example
Paul opterait pour le trajet le plus court.
Paul would opt for the shortest route.
Present subjunctive Subjonctif présent
Dependent clauses expressing wishes, necessity, doubt, and certain feelings.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | opte | (that) I opt | |
| tu | optes | (that) you opt | |
| il / elle / on | opte | (that) he / she / it optson: (that) we opt / one opts | |
| nous | options | (that) we opt | |
| vous | optiez | (that) you opt | |
| ils / elles | optent | (that) they opt |
IN A SENTENCEPresent subjunctive example
Il est possible que Paul opte pour le trajet le plus court.
It is possible that Paul opts for the shortest route.
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 opt
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