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 pray.”
Present Présent
Habits, current states, and actions happening now.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | prie | I pray | |
| tu | pries | you pray | |
| il / elle / on | prie | he / she / it prayson: we pray / one prays | |
| nous | prions | we pray | |
| vous | priez | you pray | |
| ils / elles | prient | they pray |
IN A SENTENCEPresent example
Paul prie pour la paix.
Paul prays for peace.
Passé composé
Completed past events, using avoir or être plus a past participle.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | ai prié | I prayed | |
| tu | as prié | you prayed | |
| il / elle / on | a prié | he / she / it prayedon: we prayed / one prayed | |
| nous | avons prié | we prayed | |
| vous | avez prié | you prayed | |
| ils / elles | ont prié | they prayed |
IN A SENTENCEPassé composé example
Hier, Paul a prié pour la paix.
Yesterday, Paul prayed for peace.
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’ | priais | I used to pray | |
| tu | priais | you used to pray | |
| il / elle / on | priait | he / she / it used to prayon: we used to pray / one used to pray | |
| nous | priions | we used to pray | |
| vous | priiez | you used to pray | |
| ils / elles | priaient | they used to pray |
IN A SENTENCEImperfect example
Autrefois, Paul priait pour la paix.
Back then, Paul used to pray for peace.
Future Futur simple
Future events and predictions.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | prierai | I will pray | |
| tu | prieras | you will pray | |
| il / elle / on | priera | he / she / it will prayon: we will pray / one will pray | |
| nous | prierons | we will pray | |
| vous | prierez | you will pray | |
| ils / elles | prieront | they will pray |
IN A SENTENCEFuture example
Plus tard, Paul priera pour la paix.
Later, Paul will pray for peace.
Conditional Conditionnel présent
Hypothetical events and polite requests.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | prierais | I would pray | |
| tu | prierais | you would pray | |
| il / elle / on | prierait | he / she / it would prayon: we would pray / one would pray | |
| nous | prierions | we would pray | |
| vous | prieriez | you would pray | |
| ils / elles | prieraient | they would pray |
IN A SENTENCEConditional example
Paul prierait pour la paix.
Paul would pray for peace.
Present subjunctive Subjonctif présent
Dependent clauses expressing wishes, necessity, doubt, and certain feelings.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | prie | (that) I pray | |
| tu | pries | (that) you pray | |
| il / elle / on | prie | (that) he / she / it prayson: (that) we pray / one prays | |
| nous | priions | (that) we pray | |
| vous | priiez | (that) you pray | |
| ils / elles | prient | (that) they pray |
IN A SENTENCEPresent subjunctive example
Il est possible que Paul prie pour la paix.
It is possible that Paul prays for peace.
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 pray
- to beg, to beseech, to pray to
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