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 fold.”
Present Présent
Habits, current states, and actions happening now.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | plie | I fold | |
| tu | plies | you fold | |
| il / elle / on | plie | he / she / it foldson: we fold / one folds | |
| nous | plions | we fold | |
| vous | pliez | you fold | |
| ils / elles | plient | they fold |
IN A SENTENCEPresent example
Paul plie la lettre avant de la mettre dans l'enveloppe.
Paul folds the letter before putting it in the envelope.
Passé composé
Completed past events, using avoir or être plus a past participle.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | ai plié | I folded | |
| tu | as plié | you folded | |
| il / elle / on | a plié | he / she / it foldedon: we folded / one folded | |
| nous | avons plié | we folded | |
| vous | avez plié | you folded | |
| ils / elles | ont plié | they folded |
IN A SENTENCEPassé composé example
Hier, Paul a plié la lettre avant de la mettre dans l'enveloppe.
Yesterday, Paul folded the letter before putting it in the envelope.
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’ | pliais | I used to fold | |
| tu | pliais | you used to fold | |
| il / elle / on | pliait | he / she / it used to foldon: we used to fold / one used to fold | |
| nous | pliions | we used to fold | |
| vous | pliiez | you used to fold | |
| ils / elles | pliaient | they used to fold |
IN A SENTENCEImperfect example
Autrefois, Paul pliait la lettre avant de la mettre dans l'enveloppe.
Back then, Paul used to fold the letter before putting it in the envelope.
Future Futur simple
Future events and predictions.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | plierai | I will fold | |
| tu | plieras | you will fold | |
| il / elle / on | pliera | he / she / it will foldon: we will fold / one will fold | |
| nous | plierons | we will fold | |
| vous | plierez | you will fold | |
| ils / elles | plieront | they will fold |
IN A SENTENCEFuture example
Plus tard, Paul pliera la lettre avant de la mettre dans l'enveloppe.
Later, Paul will fold the letter before putting it in the envelope.
Conditional Conditionnel présent
Hypothetical events and polite requests.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | plierais | I would fold | |
| tu | plierais | you would fold | |
| il / elle / on | plierait | he / she / it would foldon: we would fold / one would fold | |
| nous | plierions | we would fold | |
| vous | plieriez | you would fold | |
| ils / elles | plieraient | they would fold |
IN A SENTENCEConditional example
Paul plierait la lettre avant de la mettre dans l'enveloppe.
Paul would fold the letter before putting it in the envelope.
Present subjunctive Subjonctif présent
Dependent clauses expressing wishes, necessity, doubt, and certain feelings.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | plie | (that) I fold | |
| tu | plies | (that) you fold | |
| il / elle / on | plie | (that) he / she / it foldson: (that) we fold / one folds | |
| nous | pliions | (that) we fold | |
| vous | pliiez | (that) you fold | |
| ils / elles | plient | (that) they fold |
IN A SENTENCEPresent subjunctive example
Il est possible que Paul plie la lettre avant de la mettre dans l'enveloppe.
It is possible that Paul folds the letter before putting it in the envelope.
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 fold (bend (something) over; arrange by folding)
- to fold up
- to bend
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