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 plead.”
Present Présent
Habits, current states, and actions happening now.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | plaide | I plead | |
| tu | plaides | you plead | |
| il / elle / on | plaide | he / she / it pleadson: we plead / one pleads | |
| nous | plaidons | we plead | |
| vous | plaidez | you plead | |
| ils / elles | plaident | they plead |
IN A SENTENCEPresent example
L'avocat plaide la cause de son client.
The lawyer pleads his client's case.
Passé composé
Completed past events, using avoir or être plus a past participle.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | ai plaidé | I pleaded | |
| tu | as plaidé | you pleaded | |
| il / elle / on | a plaidé | he / she / it pleadedon: we pleaded / one pleaded | |
| nous | avons plaidé | we pleaded | |
| vous | avez plaidé | you pleaded | |
| ils / elles | ont plaidé | they pleaded |
IN A SENTENCEPassé composé example
Hier, l'avocat a plaidé la cause de son client.
Yesterday, the lawyer pleaded his client's case.
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’ | plaidais | I used to plead | |
| tu | plaidais | you used to plead | |
| il / elle / on | plaidait | he / she / it used to pleadon: we used to plead / one used to plead | |
| nous | plaidions | we used to plead | |
| vous | plaidiez | you used to plead | |
| ils / elles | plaidaient | they used to plead |
IN A SENTENCEImperfect example
Autrefois, l'avocat plaidait la cause de son client.
Back then, the lawyer used to plead his client's case.
Future Futur simple
Future events and predictions.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | plaiderai | I will plead | |
| tu | plaideras | you will plead | |
| il / elle / on | plaidera | he / she / it will pleadon: we will plead / one will plead | |
| nous | plaiderons | we will plead | |
| vous | plaiderez | you will plead | |
| ils / elles | plaideront | they will plead |
IN A SENTENCEFuture example
Plus tard, l'avocat plaidera la cause de son client.
Later, the lawyer will plead his client's case.
Conditional Conditionnel présent
Hypothetical events and polite requests.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | plaiderais | I would plead | |
| tu | plaiderais | you would plead | |
| il / elle / on | plaiderait | he / she / it would pleadon: we would plead / one would plead | |
| nous | plaiderions | we would plead | |
| vous | plaideriez | you would plead | |
| ils / elles | plaideraient | they would plead |
IN A SENTENCEConditional example
L'avocat plaiderait la cause de son client.
The lawyer would plead his client's case.
Present subjunctive Subjonctif présent
Dependent clauses expressing wishes, necessity, doubt, and certain feelings.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | plaide | (that) I plead | |
| tu | plaides | (that) you plead | |
| il / elle / on | plaide | (that) he / she / it pleadson: (that) we plead / one pleads | |
| nous | plaidions | (that) we plead | |
| vous | plaidiez | (that) you plead | |
| ils / elles | plaident | (that) they plead |
IN A SENTENCEPresent subjunctive example
Il est possible que l'avocat plaide la cause de son client.
It is possible that the lawyer pleads his client's case.
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 plead
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