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 anticipate.”
Present Présent
Habits, current states, and actions happening now.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | prévois | I anticipate | |
| tu | prévois | you anticipate | |
| il / elle / on | prévoit | he / she / it anticipateson: we anticipate / one anticipates | |
| nous | prévoyons | we anticipate | |
| vous | prévoyez | you anticipate | |
| ils / elles | prévoient | they anticipate |
IN A SENTENCEPresent example
Paul prévoit des difficultés pendant le voyage.
Paul anticipates difficulties during the trip.
Passé composé
Completed past events, using avoir or être plus a past participle.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | ai prévu | I anticipated | |
| tu | as prévu | you anticipated | |
| il / elle / on | a prévu | he / she / it anticipatedon: we anticipated / one anticipated | |
| nous | avons prévu | we anticipated | |
| vous | avez prévu | you anticipated | |
| ils / elles | ont prévu | they anticipated |
IN A SENTENCEPassé composé example
Hier, Paul a prévu des difficultés pendant le voyage.
Yesterday, Paul anticipated difficulties during the trip.
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’ | prévoyais | I used to anticipate | |
| tu | prévoyais | you used to anticipate | |
| il / elle / on | prévoyait | he / she / it used to anticipateon: we used to anticipate / one used to anticipate | |
| nous | prévoyions | we used to anticipate | |
| vous | prévoyiez | you used to anticipate | |
| ils / elles | prévoyaient | they used to anticipate |
IN A SENTENCEImperfect example
Autrefois, Paul prévoyait des difficultés pendant le voyage.
Back then, Paul used to anticipate difficulties during the trip.
Future Futur simple
Future events and predictions.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | prévoirai | I will anticipate | |
| tu | prévoiras | you will anticipate | |
| il / elle / on | prévoira | he / she / it will anticipateon: we will anticipate / one will anticipate | |
| nous | prévoirons | we will anticipate | |
| vous | prévoirez | you will anticipate | |
| ils / elles | prévoiront | they will anticipate |
IN A SENTENCEFuture example
Plus tard, Paul prévoira des difficultés pendant le voyage.
Later, Paul will anticipate difficulties during the trip.
Conditional Conditionnel présent
Hypothetical events and polite requests.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | prévoirais | I would anticipate | |
| tu | prévoirais | you would anticipate | |
| il / elle / on | prévoirait | he / she / it would anticipateon: we would anticipate / one would anticipate | |
| nous | prévoirions | we would anticipate | |
| vous | prévoiriez | you would anticipate | |
| ils / elles | prévoiraient | they would anticipate |
IN A SENTENCEConditional example
Paul prévoirait des difficultés pendant le voyage.
Paul would anticipate difficulties during the trip.
Present subjunctive Subjonctif présent
Dependent clauses expressing wishes, necessity, doubt, and certain feelings.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | prévoie | (that) I anticipate | |
| tu | prévoies | (that) you anticipate | |
| il / elle / on | prévoie | (that) he / she / it anticipateson: (that) we anticipate / one anticipates | |
| nous | prévoyions | (that) we anticipate | |
| vous | prévoyiez | (that) you anticipate | |
| ils / elles | prévoient | (that) they anticipate |
IN A SENTENCEPresent subjunctive example
Il est possible que Paul prévoie des difficultés pendant le voyage.
It is possible that Paul anticipates difficulties during the trip.
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 anticipate, foresee, expect (reaction, event, etc.)
- to forecast (weather)
- to plan
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