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 rot.”
Present Présent
Habits, current states, and actions happening now.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | pourris | I rot | |
| tu | pourris | you rot | |
| il / elle / on | pourrit | he / she / it rotson: we rot / one rots | |
| nous | pourrissons | we rot | |
| vous | pourrissez | you rot | |
| ils / elles | pourrissent | they rot |
IN A SENTENCEPresent example
Le fruit pourrit dans le panier.
The fruit rots in the basket.
Passé composé
Completed past events, using avoir or être plus a past participle.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | ai pourri | I rotted | |
| tu | as pourri | you rotted | |
| il / elle / on | a pourri | he / she / it rottedon: we rotted / one rotted | |
| nous | avons pourri | we rotted | |
| vous | avez pourri | you rotted | |
| ils / elles | ont pourri | they rotted |
IN A SENTENCEPassé composé example
Hier, le fruit a pourri dans le panier.
Yesterday, the fruit rotted in the basket.
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’ | pourrissais | I used to rot | |
| tu | pourrissais | you used to rot | |
| il / elle / on | pourrissait | he / she / it used to roton: we used to rot / one used to rot | |
| nous | pourrissions | we used to rot | |
| vous | pourrissiez | you used to rot | |
| ils / elles | pourrissaient | they used to rot |
IN A SENTENCEImperfect example
Autrefois, le fruit pourrissait dans le panier.
Back then, the fruit used to rot in the basket.
Future Futur simple
Future events and predictions.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | pourrirai | I will rot | |
| tu | pourriras | you will rot | |
| il / elle / on | pourrira | he / she / it will roton: we will rot / one will rot | |
| nous | pourrirons | we will rot | |
| vous | pourrirez | you will rot | |
| ils / elles | pourriront | they will rot |
IN A SENTENCEFuture example
Plus tard, le fruit pourrira dans le panier.
Later, the fruit will rot in the basket.
Conditional Conditionnel présent
Hypothetical events and polite requests.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | pourrirais | I would rot | |
| tu | pourrirais | you would rot | |
| il / elle / on | pourrirait | he / she / it would roton: we would rot / one would rot | |
| nous | pourririons | we would rot | |
| vous | pourririez | you would rot | |
| ils / elles | pourriraient | they would rot |
IN A SENTENCEConditional example
Le fruit pourrirait dans le panier.
The fruit would rot in the basket.
Present subjunctive Subjonctif présent
Dependent clauses expressing wishes, necessity, doubt, and certain feelings.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | pourrisse | (that) I rot | |
| tu | pourrisses | (that) you rot | |
| il / elle / on | pourrisse | (that) he / she / it rotson: (that) we rot / one rots | |
| nous | pourrissions | (that) we rot | |
| vous | pourrissiez | (that) you rot | |
| ils / elles | pourrissent | (that) they rot |
IN A SENTENCEPresent subjunctive example
Il est possible que le fruit pourrisse dans le panier.
It is possible that the fruit rots in the basket.
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 rot, decompose, putrefy, crumble
- to waste away from a disease such as gangrene
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