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 pay.”
Present Présent
Habits, current states, and actions happening now.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | paye / paie | I pay | |
| tu | payes / paies | you pay | |
| il / elle / on | paye / paie | he / she / it payson: we pay / one pays | |
| nous | payons | we pay | |
| vous | payez | you pay | |
| ils / elles | payent / paient | they pay |
IN A SENTENCEPresent example
Paul paye la facture.
Paul pays the bill.
Passé composé
Completed past events, using avoir or être plus a past participle.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | ai payé | I paid | |
| tu | as payé | you paid | |
| il / elle / on | a payé | he / she / it paidon: we paid / one paid | |
| nous | avons payé | we paid | |
| vous | avez payé | you paid | |
| ils / elles | ont payé | they paid |
IN A SENTENCEPassé composé example
Hier, Paul a payé la facture.
Yesterday, Paul paid the bill.
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’ | payais | I used to pay | |
| tu | payais | you used to pay | |
| il / elle / on | payait | he / she / it used to payon: we used to pay / one used to pay | |
| nous | payions | we used to pay | |
| vous | payiez | you used to pay | |
| ils / elles | payaient | they used to pay |
IN A SENTENCEImperfect example
Autrefois, Paul payait la facture.
Back then, Paul used to pay the bill.
Future Futur simple
Future events and predictions.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | payerai / paierai | I will pay | |
| tu | payeras / paieras | you will pay | |
| il / elle / on | payera / paiera | he / she / it will payon: we will pay / one will pay | |
| nous | payerons / paierons | we will pay | |
| vous | payerez / paierez | you will pay | |
| ils / elles | payeront / paieront | they will pay |
IN A SENTENCEFuture example
Plus tard, Paul payera la facture.
Later, Paul will pay the bill.
Conditional Conditionnel présent
Hypothetical events and polite requests.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | payerais / paierais | I would pay | |
| tu | payerais / paierais | you would pay | |
| il / elle / on | payerait / paierait | he / she / it would payon: we would pay / one would pay | |
| nous | payerions / paierions | we would pay | |
| vous | payeriez / paieriez | you would pay | |
| ils / elles | payeraient / paieraient | they would pay |
IN A SENTENCEConditional example
Paul payerait la facture.
Paul would pay the bill.
Present subjunctive Subjonctif présent
Dependent clauses expressing wishes, necessity, doubt, and certain feelings.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | paye / paie | (that) I pay | |
| tu | payes / paies | (that) you pay | |
| il / elle / on | paye / paie | (that) he / she / it payson: (that) we pay / one pays | |
| nous | payions | (that) we pay | |
| vous | payiez | (that) you pay | |
| ils / elles | payent / paient | (that) they pay |
IN A SENTENCEPresent subjunctive example
Il est possible que Paul paye la facture.
It is possible that Paul pays the bill.
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 pay (for)
- to pay (someone)
- to buy (something)
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