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 leave.”
Present Présent
Habits, current states, and actions happening now.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | pars | I leave | |
| tu | pars | you leave | |
| il / elle / on | part | he / she / it leaveson: we leave / one leaves | |
| nous | partons | we leave | |
| vous | partez | you leave | |
| ils / elles | partent | they leave |
IN A SENTENCEPresent example
Paul part pour Lyon.
Paul leaves for Lyon.
Passé composé
Completed past events, using avoir or être plus a past participle.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | suis parti / suis partie | I left | |
| tu | es parti / es partie | you left | |
| il / elle / on | est parti / est partie | he / she / it lefton: we left / one left | |
| nous | sommes partis / sommes parties | we left | |
| vous | êtes parti / êtes partie / êtes partis / êtes parties | you left | |
| ils / elles | sont partis / sont parties | they left |
IN A SENTENCEPassé composé example
Hier, Paul est parti pour Lyon.
Yesterday, Paul left for Lyon.
This table uses être for the ordinary intransitive meaning. Older or specialized uses with avoir are outside this reference. With être, the participle agrees with the subject: feminine -e, plural -s. The table gives masculine and feminine alternatives; vous may be singular or plural. With on meaning we, plural agreement is also possible.
Back to tense navigation ↑Imperfect Imparfait
Past habits, descriptions, and actions in progress.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | partais | I used to leave | |
| tu | partais | you used to leave | |
| il / elle / on | partait | he / she / it used to leaveon: we used to leave / one used to leave | |
| nous | partions | we used to leave | |
| vous | partiez | you used to leave | |
| ils / elles | partaient | they used to leave |
IN A SENTENCEImperfect example
Autrefois, Paul partait pour Lyon.
Back then, Paul used to leave for Lyon.
Future Futur simple
Future events and predictions.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | partirai | I will leave | |
| tu | partiras | you will leave | |
| il / elle / on | partira | he / she / it will leaveon: we will leave / one will leave | |
| nous | partirons | we will leave | |
| vous | partirez | you will leave | |
| ils / elles | partiront | they will leave |
IN A SENTENCEFuture example
Plus tard, Paul partira pour Lyon.
Later, Paul will leave for Lyon.
Conditional Conditionnel présent
Hypothetical events and polite requests.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | partirais | I would leave | |
| tu | partirais | you would leave | |
| il / elle / on | partirait | he / she / it would leaveon: we would leave / one would leave | |
| nous | partirions | we would leave | |
| vous | partiriez | you would leave | |
| ils / elles | partiraient | they would leave |
IN A SENTENCEConditional example
Paul partirait pour Lyon.
Paul would leave for Lyon.
Present subjunctive Subjonctif présent
Dependent clauses expressing wishes, necessity, doubt, and certain feelings.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | parte | (that) I leave | |
| tu | partes | (that) you leave | |
| il / elle / on | parte | (that) he / she / it leaveson: (that) we leave / one leaves | |
| nous | partions | (that) we leave | |
| vous | partiez | (that) you leave | |
| ils / elles | partent | (that) they leave |
IN A SENTENCEPresent subjunctive example
Il est possible que Paul parte pour Lyon.
It is possible that Paul leaves for Lyon.
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 go away, leave, depart
- to originate
- to die
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