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 claim.”
Present Présent
Habits, current states, and actions happening now.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | prétends | I claim | |
| tu | prétends | you claim | |
| il / elle / on | prétend | he / she / it claimson: we claim / one claims | |
| nous | prétendons | we claim | |
| vous | prétendez | you claim | |
| ils / elles | prétendent | they claim |
IN A SENTENCEPresent example
Paul prétend connaître la réponse.
Paul claims to know the answer.
Passé composé
Completed past events, using avoir or être plus a past participle.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | ai prétendu | I claimed | |
| tu | as prétendu | you claimed | |
| il / elle / on | a prétendu | he / she / it claimedon: we claimed / one claimed | |
| nous | avons prétendu | we claimed | |
| vous | avez prétendu | you claimed | |
| ils / elles | ont prétendu | they claimed |
IN A SENTENCEPassé composé example
Hier, Paul a prétendu connaître la réponse.
Yesterday, Paul claimed to know the answer.
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’ | prétendais | I used to claim | |
| tu | prétendais | you used to claim | |
| il / elle / on | prétendait | he / she / it used to claimon: we used to claim / one used to claim | |
| nous | prétendions | we used to claim | |
| vous | prétendiez | you used to claim | |
| ils / elles | prétendaient | they used to claim |
IN A SENTENCEImperfect example
Autrefois, Paul prétendait connaître la réponse.
Back then, Paul used to claim to know the answer.
Future Futur simple
Future events and predictions.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | prétendrai | I will claim | |
| tu | prétendras | you will claim | |
| il / elle / on | prétendra | he / she / it will claimon: we will claim / one will claim | |
| nous | prétendrons | we will claim | |
| vous | prétendrez | you will claim | |
| ils / elles | prétendront | they will claim |
IN A SENTENCEFuture example
Plus tard, Paul prétendra connaître la réponse.
Later, Paul will claim to know the answer.
Conditional Conditionnel présent
Hypothetical events and polite requests.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | prétendrais | I would claim | |
| tu | prétendrais | you would claim | |
| il / elle / on | prétendrait | he / she / it would claimon: we would claim / one would claim | |
| nous | prétendrions | we would claim | |
| vous | prétendriez | you would claim | |
| ils / elles | prétendraient | they would claim |
IN A SENTENCEConditional example
Paul prétendrait connaître la réponse.
Paul would claim to know the answer.
Present subjunctive Subjonctif présent
Dependent clauses expressing wishes, necessity, doubt, and certain feelings.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | prétende | (that) I claim | |
| tu | prétendes | (that) you claim | |
| il / elle / on | prétende | (that) he / she / it claimson: (that) we claim / one claims | |
| nous | prétendions | (that) we claim | |
| vous | prétendiez | (that) you claim | |
| ils / elles | prétendent | (that) they claim |
IN A SENTENCEPresent subjunctive example
Il est possible que Paul prétende connaître la réponse.
It is possible that Paul claims to know the answer.
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 claim, to allege
- to expect, to consider necessary
- to aim at, to set one's sights on
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