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 reach.”
Present Présent
Habits, current states, and actions happening now.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | parviens | I reach | |
| tu | parviens | you reach | |
| il / elle / on | parvient | he / she / it reacheson: we reach / one reaches | |
| nous | parvenons | we reach | |
| vous | parvenez | you reach | |
| ils / elles | parviennent | they reach |
IN A SENTENCEPresent example
Paul parvient au sommet de la montagne.
Paul reaches the summit of the mountain.
Passé composé
Completed past events, using avoir or être plus a past participle.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | suis parvenu / suis parvenue | I reached | |
| tu | es parvenu / es parvenue | you reached | |
| il / elle / on | est parvenu / est parvenue | he / she / it reachedon: we reached / one reached | |
| nous | sommes parvenus / sommes parvenues | we reached | |
| vous | êtes parvenu / êtes parvenue / êtes parvenus / êtes parvenues | you reached | |
| ils / elles | sont parvenus / sont parvenues | they reached |
IN A SENTENCEPassé composé example
Hier, Paul est parvenu au sommet de la montagne.
Yesterday, Paul reached the summit of the mountain.
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’ | parvenais | I used to reach | |
| tu | parvenais | you used to reach | |
| il / elle / on | parvenait | he / she / it used to reachon: we used to reach / one used to reach | |
| nous | parvenions | we used to reach | |
| vous | parveniez | you used to reach | |
| ils / elles | parvenaient | they used to reach |
IN A SENTENCEImperfect example
Autrefois, Paul parvenait au sommet de la montagne.
Back then, Paul used to reach the summit of the mountain.
Future Futur simple
Future events and predictions.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | parviendrai | I will reach | |
| tu | parviendras | you will reach | |
| il / elle / on | parviendra | he / she / it will reachon: we will reach / one will reach | |
| nous | parviendrons | we will reach | |
| vous | parviendrez | you will reach | |
| ils / elles | parviendront | they will reach |
IN A SENTENCEFuture example
Plus tard, Paul parviendra au sommet de la montagne.
Later, Paul will reach the summit of the mountain.
Conditional Conditionnel présent
Hypothetical events and polite requests.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | parviendrais | I would reach | |
| tu | parviendrais | you would reach | |
| il / elle / on | parviendrait | he / she / it would reachon: we would reach / one would reach | |
| nous | parviendrions | we would reach | |
| vous | parviendriez | you would reach | |
| ils / elles | parviendraient | they would reach |
IN A SENTENCEConditional example
Paul parviendrait au sommet de la montagne.
Paul would reach the summit of the mountain.
Present subjunctive Subjonctif présent
Dependent clauses expressing wishes, necessity, doubt, and certain feelings.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | parvienne | (that) I reach | |
| tu | parviennes | (that) you reach | |
| il / elle / on | parvienne | (that) he / she / it reacheson: (that) we reach / one reaches | |
| nous | parvenions | (that) we reach | |
| vous | parveniez | (that) you reach | |
| ils / elles | parviennent | (that) they reach |
IN A SENTENCEPresent subjunctive example
Il est possible que Paul parvienne au sommet de la montagne.
It is possible that Paul reaches the summit of the mountain.
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 reach
- to succeed
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