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 photograph.”
Present Présent
Habits, current states, and actions happening now.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | photographie | I photograph | |
| tu | photographies | you photograph | |
| il / elle / on | photographie | he / she / it photographson: we photograph / one photographs | |
| nous | photographions | we photograph | |
| vous | photographiez | you photograph | |
| ils / elles | photographient | they photograph |
IN A SENTENCEPresent example
Paul photographie le vieux pont.
Paul photographs the old bridge.
Passé composé
Completed past events, using avoir or être plus a past participle.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | ai photographié | I photographed | |
| tu | as photographié | you photographed | |
| il / elle / on | a photographié | he / she / it photographedon: we photographed / one photographed | |
| nous | avons photographié | we photographed | |
| vous | avez photographié | you photographed | |
| ils / elles | ont photographié | they photographed |
IN A SENTENCEPassé composé example
Hier, Paul a photographié le vieux pont.
Yesterday, Paul photographed the old bridge.
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’ | photographiais | I used to photograph | |
| tu | photographiais | you used to photograph | |
| il / elle / on | photographiait | he / she / it used to photographon: we used to photograph / one used to photograph | |
| nous | photographiions | we used to photograph | |
| vous | photographiiez | you used to photograph | |
| ils / elles | photographiaient | they used to photograph |
IN A SENTENCEImperfect example
Autrefois, Paul photographiait le vieux pont.
Back then, Paul used to photograph the old bridge.
Future Futur simple
Future events and predictions.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | photographierai | I will photograph | |
| tu | photographieras | you will photograph | |
| il / elle / on | photographiera | he / she / it will photographon: we will photograph / one will photograph | |
| nous | photographierons | we will photograph | |
| vous | photographierez | you will photograph | |
| ils / elles | photographieront | they will photograph |
IN A SENTENCEFuture example
Plus tard, Paul photographiera le vieux pont.
Later, Paul will photograph the old bridge.
Conditional Conditionnel présent
Hypothetical events and polite requests.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | photographierais | I would photograph | |
| tu | photographierais | you would photograph | |
| il / elle / on | photographierait | he / she / it would photographon: we would photograph / one would photograph | |
| nous | photographierions | we would photograph | |
| vous | photographieriez | you would photograph | |
| ils / elles | photographieraient | they would photograph |
IN A SENTENCEConditional example
Paul photographierait le vieux pont.
Paul would photograph the old bridge.
Present subjunctive Subjonctif présent
Dependent clauses expressing wishes, necessity, doubt, and certain feelings.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | photographie | (that) I photograph | |
| tu | photographies | (that) you photograph | |
| il / elle / on | photographie | (that) he / she / it photographson: (that) we photograph / one photographs | |
| nous | photographiions | (that) we photograph | |
| vous | photographiiez | (that) you photograph | |
| ils / elles | photographient | (that) they photograph |
IN A SENTENCEPresent subjunctive example
Il est possible que Paul photographie le vieux pont.
It is possible that Paul photographs the old bridge.
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 photograph
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