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 forget.”
Present Présent
Habits, current states, and actions happening now.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | oublie | I forget | |
| tu | oublies | you forget | |
| il / elle / on | oublie | he / she / it forgetson: we forget / one forgets | |
| nous | oublions | we forget | |
| vous | oubliez | you forget | |
| ils / elles | oublient | they forget |
IN A SENTENCEPresent example
Paul oublie son parapluie.
Paul forgets his umbrella.
Passé composé
Completed past events, using avoir or être plus a past participle.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | ai oublié | I forgot | |
| tu | as oublié | you forgot | |
| il / elle / on | a oublié | he / she / it forgoton: we forgot / one forgot | |
| nous | avons oublié | we forgot | |
| vous | avez oublié | you forgot | |
| ils / elles | ont oublié | they forgot |
IN A SENTENCEPassé composé example
Hier, Paul a oublié son parapluie.
Yesterday, Paul forgot his umbrella.
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’ | oubliais | I used to forget | |
| tu | oubliais | you used to forget | |
| il / elle / on | oubliait | he / she / it used to forgeton: we used to forget / one used to forget | |
| nous | oubliions | we used to forget | |
| vous | oubliiez | you used to forget | |
| ils / elles | oubliaient | they used to forget |
IN A SENTENCEImperfect example
Autrefois, Paul oubliait son parapluie.
Back then, Paul used to forget his umbrella.
Future Futur simple
Future events and predictions.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | oublierai | I will forget | |
| tu | oublieras | you will forget | |
| il / elle / on | oubliera | he / she / it will forgeton: we will forget / one will forget | |
| nous | oublierons | we will forget | |
| vous | oublierez | you will forget | |
| ils / elles | oublieront | they will forget |
IN A SENTENCEFuture example
Plus tard, Paul oubliera son parapluie.
Later, Paul will forget his umbrella.
Conditional Conditionnel présent
Hypothetical events and polite requests.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | oublierais | I would forget | |
| tu | oublierais | you would forget | |
| il / elle / on | oublierait | he / she / it would forgeton: we would forget / one would forget | |
| nous | oublierions | we would forget | |
| vous | oublieriez | you would forget | |
| ils / elles | oublieraient | they would forget |
IN A SENTENCEConditional example
Paul oublierait son parapluie.
Paul would forget his umbrella.
Present subjunctive Subjonctif présent
Dependent clauses expressing wishes, necessity, doubt, and certain feelings.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | oublie | (that) I forget | |
| tu | oublies | (that) you forget | |
| il / elle / on | oublie | (that) he / she / it forgetson: (that) we forget / one forgets | |
| nous | oubliions | (that) we forget | |
| vous | oubliiez | (that) you forget | |
| ils / elles | oublient | (that) they forget |
IN A SENTENCEPresent subjunctive example
Il est possible que Paul oublie son parapluie.
It is possible that Paul forgets his umbrella.
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 forget
- to leave something behind by accident
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