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 cry.”
Present Présent
Habits, current states, and actions happening now.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | pleure | I cry | |
| tu | pleures | you cry | |
| il / elle / on | pleure | he / she / it crieson: we cry / one cries | |
| nous | pleurons | we cry | |
| vous | pleurez | you cry | |
| ils / elles | pleurent | they cry |
IN A SENTENCEPresent example
Paul pleure de joie.
Paul cries with joy.
Passé composé
Completed past events, using avoir or être plus a past participle.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | ai pleuré | I cried | |
| tu | as pleuré | you cried | |
| il / elle / on | a pleuré | he / she / it criedon: we cried / one cried | |
| nous | avons pleuré | we cried | |
| vous | avez pleuré | you cried | |
| ils / elles | ont pleuré | they cried |
IN A SENTENCEPassé composé example
Hier, Paul a pleuré de joie.
Yesterday, Paul cried with joy.
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’ | pleurais | I used to cry | |
| tu | pleurais | you used to cry | |
| il / elle / on | pleurait | he / she / it used to cryon: we used to cry / one used to cry | |
| nous | pleurions | we used to cry | |
| vous | pleuriez | you used to cry | |
| ils / elles | pleuraient | they used to cry |
IN A SENTENCEImperfect example
Autrefois, Paul pleurait de joie.
Back then, Paul used to cry with joy.
Future Futur simple
Future events and predictions.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | pleurerai | I will cry | |
| tu | pleureras | you will cry | |
| il / elle / on | pleurera | he / she / it will cryon: we will cry / one will cry | |
| nous | pleurerons | we will cry | |
| vous | pleurerez | you will cry | |
| ils / elles | pleureront | they will cry |
IN A SENTENCEFuture example
Plus tard, Paul pleurera de joie.
Later, Paul will cry with joy.
Conditional Conditionnel présent
Hypothetical events and polite requests.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | pleurerais | I would cry | |
| tu | pleurerais | you would cry | |
| il / elle / on | pleurerait | he / she / it would cryon: we would cry / one would cry | |
| nous | pleurerions | we would cry | |
| vous | pleureriez | you would cry | |
| ils / elles | pleureraient | they would cry |
IN A SENTENCEConditional example
Paul pleurerait de joie.
Paul would cry with joy.
Present subjunctive Subjonctif présent
Dependent clauses expressing wishes, necessity, doubt, and certain feelings.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | pleure | (that) I cry | |
| tu | pleures | (that) you cry | |
| il / elle / on | pleure | (that) he / she / it crieson: (that) we cry / one cries | |
| nous | pleurions | (that) we cry | |
| vous | pleuriez | (that) you cry | |
| ils / elles | pleurent | (that) they cry |
IN A SENTENCEPresent subjunctive example
Il est possible que Paul pleure de joie.
It is possible that Paul cries with joy.
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 cry, to weep; to shed tears
- to mourn, to cry for
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