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 open.”
Present Présent
Habits, current states, and actions happening now.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | ouvre | I open | |
| tu | ouvres | you open | |
| il / elle / on | ouvre | he / she / it openson: we open / one opens | |
| nous | ouvrons | we open | |
| vous | ouvrez | you open | |
| ils / elles | ouvrent | they open |
IN A SENTENCEPresent example
Paul ouvre la fenêtre de la cuisine.
Paul opens the kitchen window.
Passé composé
Completed past events, using avoir or être plus a past participle.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | ai ouvert | I opened | |
| tu | as ouvert | you opened | |
| il / elle / on | a ouvert | he / she / it openedon: we opened / one opened | |
| nous | avons ouvert | we opened | |
| vous | avez ouvert | you opened | |
| ils / elles | ont ouvert | they opened |
IN A SENTENCEPassé composé example
Hier, Paul a ouvert la fenêtre de la cuisine.
Yesterday, Paul opened the kitchen window.
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’ | ouvrais | I used to open | |
| tu | ouvrais | you used to open | |
| il / elle / on | ouvrait | he / she / it used to openon: we used to open / one used to open | |
| nous | ouvrions | we used to open | |
| vous | ouvriez | you used to open | |
| ils / elles | ouvraient | they used to open |
IN A SENTENCEImperfect example
Autrefois, Paul ouvrait la fenêtre de la cuisine.
Back then, Paul used to open the kitchen window.
Future Futur simple
Future events and predictions.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | ouvrirai | I will open | |
| tu | ouvriras | you will open | |
| il / elle / on | ouvrira | he / she / it will openon: we will open / one will open | |
| nous | ouvrirons | we will open | |
| vous | ouvrirez | you will open | |
| ils / elles | ouvriront | they will open |
IN A SENTENCEFuture example
Plus tard, Paul ouvrira la fenêtre de la cuisine.
Later, Paul will open the kitchen window.
Conditional Conditionnel présent
Hypothetical events and polite requests.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | ouvrirais | I would open | |
| tu | ouvrirais | you would open | |
| il / elle / on | ouvrirait | he / she / it would openon: we would open / one would open | |
| nous | ouvririons | we would open | |
| vous | ouvririez | you would open | |
| ils / elles | ouvriraient | they would open |
IN A SENTENCEConditional example
Paul ouvrirait la fenêtre de la cuisine.
Paul would open the kitchen window.
Present subjunctive Subjonctif présent
Dependent clauses expressing wishes, necessity, doubt, and certain feelings.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | ouvre | (that) I open | |
| tu | ouvres | (that) you open | |
| il / elle / on | ouvre | (that) he / she / it openson: (that) we open / one opens | |
| nous | ouvrions | (that) we open | |
| vous | ouvriez | (that) you open | |
| ils / elles | ouvrent | (that) they open |
IN A SENTENCEPresent subjunctive example
Il est possible que Paul ouvre la fenêtre de la cuisine.
It is possible that Paul opens the kitchen window.
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 open
- to begin, to initiate
- to turn on, to switch on, to put on (of a device or an appliance)
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