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 proceed.”
Present Présent
Habits, current states, and actions happening now.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | procède | I proceed | |
| tu | procèdes | you proceed | |
| il / elle / on | procède | he / she / it proceedson: we proceed / one proceeds | |
| nous | procédons | we proceed | |
| vous | procédez | you proceed | |
| ils / elles | procèdent | they proceed |
IN A SENTENCEPresent example
Paul procède avec prudence.
Paul proceeds cautiously.
Passé composé
Completed past events, using avoir or être plus a past participle.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | ai procédé | I proceeded | |
| tu | as procédé | you proceeded | |
| il / elle / on | a procédé | he / she / it proceededon: we proceeded / one proceeded | |
| nous | avons procédé | we proceeded | |
| vous | avez procédé | you proceeded | |
| ils / elles | ont procédé | they proceeded |
IN A SENTENCEPassé composé example
Hier, Paul a procédé avec prudence.
Yesterday, Paul proceeded cautiously.
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’ | procédais | I used to proceed | |
| tu | procédais | you used to proceed | |
| il / elle / on | procédait | he / she / it used to proceedon: we used to proceed / one used to proceed | |
| nous | procédions | we used to proceed | |
| vous | procédiez | you used to proceed | |
| ils / elles | procédaient | they used to proceed |
IN A SENTENCEImperfect example
Autrefois, Paul procédait avec prudence.
Back then, Paul used to proceed cautiously.
Future Futur simple
Future events and predictions.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | procèderai / procéderai | I will proceed | |
| tu | procèderas / procéderas | you will proceed | |
| il / elle / on | procèdera / procédera | he / she / it will proceedon: we will proceed / one will proceed | |
| nous | procèderons / procéderons | we will proceed | |
| vous | procèderez / procéderez | you will proceed | |
| ils / elles | procèderont / procéderont | they will proceed |
IN A SENTENCEFuture example
Plus tard, Paul procèdera avec prudence.
Later, Paul will proceed cautiously.
Conditional Conditionnel présent
Hypothetical events and polite requests.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | procèderais / procéderais | I would proceed | |
| tu | procèderais / procéderais | you would proceed | |
| il / elle / on | procèderait / procéderait | he / she / it would proceedon: we would proceed / one would proceed | |
| nous | procèderions / procéderions | we would proceed | |
| vous | procèderiez / procéderiez | you would proceed | |
| ils / elles | procèderaient / procéderaient | they would proceed |
IN A SENTENCEConditional example
Paul procèderait avec prudence.
Paul would proceed cautiously.
Present subjunctive Subjonctif présent
Dependent clauses expressing wishes, necessity, doubt, and certain feelings.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | procède | (that) I proceed | |
| tu | procèdes | (that) you proceed | |
| il / elle / on | procède | (that) he / she / it proceedson: (that) we proceed / one proceeds | |
| nous | procédions | (that) we proceed | |
| vous | procédiez | (that) you proceed | |
| ils / elles | procèdent | (that) they proceed |
IN A SENTENCEPresent subjunctive example
Il est possible que Paul procède avec prudence.
It is possible that Paul proceeds cautiously.
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
- proceed
- behave
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