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 specify.”
Present Présent
Habits, current states, and actions happening now.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | précise | I specify | |
| tu | précises | you specify | |
| il / elle / on | précise | he / she / it specifieson: we specify / one specifies | |
| nous | précisons | we specify | |
| vous | précisez | you specify | |
| ils / elles | précisent | they specify |
IN A SENTENCEPresent example
Paul précise l'heure du rendez-vous.
Paul specifies the time of the appointment.
Passé composé
Completed past events, using avoir or être plus a past participle.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | ai précisé | I specified | |
| tu | as précisé | you specified | |
| il / elle / on | a précisé | he / she / it specifiedon: we specified / one specified | |
| nous | avons précisé | we specified | |
| vous | avez précisé | you specified | |
| ils / elles | ont précisé | they specified |
IN A SENTENCEPassé composé example
Hier, Paul a précisé l'heure du rendez-vous.
Yesterday, Paul specified the time of the appointment.
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’ | précisais | I used to specify | |
| tu | précisais | you used to specify | |
| il / elle / on | précisait | he / she / it used to specifyon: we used to specify / one used to specify | |
| nous | précisions | we used to specify | |
| vous | précisiez | you used to specify | |
| ils / elles | précisaient | they used to specify |
IN A SENTENCEImperfect example
Autrefois, Paul précisait l'heure du rendez-vous.
Back then, Paul used to specify the time of the appointment.
Future Futur simple
Future events and predictions.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | préciserai | I will specify | |
| tu | préciseras | you will specify | |
| il / elle / on | précisera | he / she / it will specifyon: we will specify / one will specify | |
| nous | préciserons | we will specify | |
| vous | préciserez | you will specify | |
| ils / elles | préciseront | they will specify |
IN A SENTENCEFuture example
Plus tard, Paul précisera l'heure du rendez-vous.
Later, Paul will specify the time of the appointment.
Conditional Conditionnel présent
Hypothetical events and polite requests.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | préciserais | I would specify | |
| tu | préciserais | you would specify | |
| il / elle / on | préciserait | he / she / it would specifyon: we would specify / one would specify | |
| nous | préciserions | we would specify | |
| vous | préciseriez | you would specify | |
| ils / elles | préciseraient | they would specify |
IN A SENTENCEConditional example
Paul préciserait l'heure du rendez-vous.
Paul would specify the time of the appointment.
Present subjunctive Subjonctif présent
Dependent clauses expressing wishes, necessity, doubt, and certain feelings.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | précise | (that) I specify | |
| tu | précises | (that) you specify | |
| il / elle / on | précise | (that) he / she / it specifieson: (that) we specify / one specifies | |
| nous | précisions | (that) we specify | |
| vous | précisiez | (that) you specify | |
| ils / elles | précisent | (that) they specify |
IN A SENTENCEPresent subjunctive example
Il est possible que Paul précise l'heure du rendez-vous.
It is possible that Paul specifies the time of the appointment.
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 specify
- to clarify
- to point out
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