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 enter.”
Present Présent
Habits, current states, and actions happening now.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | pénètre | I enter | |
| tu | pénètres | you enter | |
| il / elle / on | pénètre | he / she / it enterson: we enter / one enters | |
| nous | pénétrons | we enter | |
| vous | pénétrez | you enter | |
| ils / elles | pénètrent | they enter |
IN A SENTENCEPresent example
Paul pénètre dans la salle par cette porte.
Paul enters the room through this door.
Passé composé
Completed past events, using avoir or être plus a past participle.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | ai pénétré | I entered | |
| tu | as pénétré | you entered | |
| il / elle / on | a pénétré | he / she / it enteredon: we entered / one entered | |
| nous | avons pénétré | we entered | |
| vous | avez pénétré | you entered | |
| ils / elles | ont pénétré | they entered |
IN A SENTENCEPassé composé example
Hier, Paul a pénétré dans la salle par cette porte.
Yesterday, Paul entered the room through this door.
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’ | pénétrais | I used to enter | |
| tu | pénétrais | you used to enter | |
| il / elle / on | pénétrait | he / she / it used to enteron: we used to enter / one used to enter | |
| nous | pénétrions | we used to enter | |
| vous | pénétriez | you used to enter | |
| ils / elles | pénétraient | they used to enter |
IN A SENTENCEImperfect example
Autrefois, Paul pénétrait dans la salle par cette porte.
Back then, Paul used to enter the room through this door.
Future Futur simple
Future events and predictions.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | pénètrerai / pénétrerai | I will enter | |
| tu | pénètreras / pénétreras | you will enter | |
| il / elle / on | pénètrera / pénétrera | he / she / it will enteron: we will enter / one will enter | |
| nous | pénètrerons / pénétrerons | we will enter | |
| vous | pénètrerez / pénétrerez | you will enter | |
| ils / elles | pénètreront / pénétreront | they will enter |
IN A SENTENCEFuture example
Plus tard, Paul pénètrera dans la salle par cette porte.
Later, Paul will enter the room through this door.
Conditional Conditionnel présent
Hypothetical events and polite requests.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | pénètrerais / pénétrerais | I would enter | |
| tu | pénètrerais / pénétrerais | you would enter | |
| il / elle / on | pénètrerait / pénétrerait | he / she / it would enteron: we would enter / one would enter | |
| nous | pénètrerions / pénétrerions | we would enter | |
| vous | pénètreriez / pénétreriez | you would enter | |
| ils / elles | pénètreraient / pénétreraient | they would enter |
IN A SENTENCEConditional example
Paul pénètrerait dans la salle par cette porte.
Paul would enter the room through this door.
Present subjunctive Subjonctif présent
Dependent clauses expressing wishes, necessity, doubt, and certain feelings.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | pénètre | (that) I enter | |
| tu | pénètres | (that) you enter | |
| il / elle / on | pénètre | (that) he / she / it enterson: (that) we enter / one enters | |
| nous | pénétrions | (that) we enter | |
| vous | pénétriez | (that) you enter | |
| ils / elles | pénètrent | (that) they enter |
IN A SENTENCEPresent subjunctive example
Il est possible que Paul pénètre dans la salle par cette porte.
It is possible that Paul enters the room through this door.
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 enter, to get in (to)
- to penetrate
- to see through somebody's lies or secret plans
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