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 weigh.”
Present Présent
Habits, current states, and actions happening now.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | pèse | I weigh | |
| tu | pèses | you weigh | |
| il / elle / on | pèse | he / she / it weighson: we weigh / one weighs | |
| nous | pesons | we weigh | |
| vous | pesez | you weigh | |
| ils / elles | pèsent | they weigh |
IN A SENTENCEPresent example
Paul pèse la farine avec une balance.
Paul weighs the flour on a scale.
Passé composé
Completed past events, using avoir or être plus a past participle.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | ai pesé | I weighed | |
| tu | as pesé | you weighed | |
| il / elle / on | a pesé | he / she / it weighedon: we weighed / one weighed | |
| nous | avons pesé | we weighed | |
| vous | avez pesé | you weighed | |
| ils / elles | ont pesé | they weighed |
IN A SENTENCEPassé composé example
Hier, Paul a pesé la farine avec une balance.
Yesterday, Paul weighed the flour on a scale.
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’ | pesais | I used to weigh | |
| tu | pesais | you used to weigh | |
| il / elle / on | pesait | he / she / it used to weighon: we used to weigh / one used to weigh | |
| nous | pesions | we used to weigh | |
| vous | pesiez | you used to weigh | |
| ils / elles | pesaient | they used to weigh |
IN A SENTENCEImperfect example
Autrefois, Paul pesait la farine avec une balance.
Back then, Paul used to weigh the flour on a scale.
Future Futur simple
Future events and predictions.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | pèserai | I will weigh | |
| tu | pèseras | you will weigh | |
| il / elle / on | pèsera | he / she / it will weighon: we will weigh / one will weigh | |
| nous | pèserons | we will weigh | |
| vous | pèserez | you will weigh | |
| ils / elles | pèseront | they will weigh |
IN A SENTENCEFuture example
Plus tard, Paul pèsera la farine avec une balance.
Later, Paul will weigh the flour on a scale.
Conditional Conditionnel présent
Hypothetical events and polite requests.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | pèserais | I would weigh | |
| tu | pèserais | you would weigh | |
| il / elle / on | pèserait | he / she / it would weighon: we would weigh / one would weigh | |
| nous | pèserions | we would weigh | |
| vous | pèseriez | you would weigh | |
| ils / elles | pèseraient | they would weigh |
IN A SENTENCEConditional example
Paul pèserait la farine avec une balance.
Paul would weigh the flour on a scale.
Present subjunctive Subjonctif présent
Dependent clauses expressing wishes, necessity, doubt, and certain feelings.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | pèse | (that) I weigh | |
| tu | pèses | (that) you weigh | |
| il / elle / on | pèse | (that) he / she / it weighson: (that) we weigh / one weighs | |
| nous | pesions | (that) we weigh | |
| vous | pesiez | (that) you weigh | |
| ils / elles | pèsent | (that) they weigh |
IN A SENTENCEPresent subjunctive example
Il est possible que Paul pèse la farine avec une balance.
It is possible that Paul weighs the flour on a scale.
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 weigh (to have a weight of)
- of a file, to have a given size
- to weigh (to see how much something weighs)
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