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 favor.”
Present Présent
Habits, current states, and actions happening now.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | privilégie | I favor | |
| tu | privilégies | you favor | |
| il / elle / on | privilégie | he / she / it favorson: we favor / one favors | |
| nous | privilégions | we favor | |
| vous | privilégiez | you favor | |
| ils / elles | privilégient | they favor |
IN A SENTENCEPresent example
Paul privilégie les produits locaux.
Paul favors local products.
Passé composé
Completed past events, using avoir or être plus a past participle.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | ai privilégié | I favored | |
| tu | as privilégié | you favored | |
| il / elle / on | a privilégié | he / she / it favoredon: we favored / one favored | |
| nous | avons privilégié | we favored | |
| vous | avez privilégié | you favored | |
| ils / elles | ont privilégié | they favored |
IN A SENTENCEPassé composé example
Hier, Paul a privilégié les produits locaux.
Yesterday, Paul favored local products.
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’ | privilégiais | I used to favor | |
| tu | privilégiais | you used to favor | |
| il / elle / on | privilégiait | he / she / it used to favoron: we used to favor / one used to favor | |
| nous | privilégiions | we used to favor | |
| vous | privilégiiez | you used to favor | |
| ils / elles | privilégiaient | they used to favor |
IN A SENTENCEImperfect example
Autrefois, Paul privilégiait les produits locaux.
Back then, Paul used to favor local products.
Future Futur simple
Future events and predictions.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | privilégierai | I will favor | |
| tu | privilégieras | you will favor | |
| il / elle / on | privilégiera | he / she / it will favoron: we will favor / one will favor | |
| nous | privilégierons | we will favor | |
| vous | privilégierez | you will favor | |
| ils / elles | privilégieront | they will favor |
IN A SENTENCEFuture example
Plus tard, Paul privilégiera les produits locaux.
Later, Paul will favor local products.
Conditional Conditionnel présent
Hypothetical events and polite requests.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | privilégierais | I would favor | |
| tu | privilégierais | you would favor | |
| il / elle / on | privilégierait | he / she / it would favoron: we would favor / one would favor | |
| nous | privilégierions | we would favor | |
| vous | privilégieriez | you would favor | |
| ils / elles | privilégieraient | they would favor |
IN A SENTENCEConditional example
Paul privilégierait les produits locaux.
Paul would favor local products.
Present subjunctive Subjonctif présent
Dependent clauses expressing wishes, necessity, doubt, and certain feelings.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | privilégie | (that) I favor | |
| tu | privilégies | (that) you favor | |
| il / elle / on | privilégie | (that) he / she / it favorson: (that) we favor / one favors | |
| nous | privilégiions | (that) we favor | |
| vous | privilégiiez | (that) you favor | |
| ils / elles | privilégient | (that) they favor |
IN A SENTENCEPresent subjunctive example
Il est possible que Paul privilégie les produits locaux.
It is possible that Paul favors local products.
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 privilege, to favour
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