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 program.”
Present Présent
Habits, current states, and actions happening now.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | programme | I program | |
| tu | programmes | you program | |
| il / elle / on | programme | he / she / it programson: we program / one programs | |
| nous | programmons | we program | |
| vous | programmez | you program | |
| ils / elles | programment | they program |
IN A SENTENCEPresent example
Paul programme un petit jeu vidéo.
Paul programs a small video game.
Passé composé
Completed past events, using avoir or être plus a past participle.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | ai programmé | I programmed | |
| tu | as programmé | you programmed | |
| il / elle / on | a programmé | he / she / it programmedon: we programmed / one programmed | |
| nous | avons programmé | we programmed | |
| vous | avez programmé | you programmed | |
| ils / elles | ont programmé | they programmed |
IN A SENTENCEPassé composé example
Hier, Paul a programmé un petit jeu vidéo.
Yesterday, Paul programmed a small video game.
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’ | programmais | I used to program | |
| tu | programmais | you used to program | |
| il / elle / on | programmait | he / she / it used to programon: we used to program / one used to program | |
| nous | programmions | we used to program | |
| vous | programmiez | you used to program | |
| ils / elles | programmaient | they used to program |
IN A SENTENCEImperfect example
Autrefois, Paul programmait un petit jeu vidéo.
Back then, Paul used to program a small video game.
Future Futur simple
Future events and predictions.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | programmerai | I will program | |
| tu | programmeras | you will program | |
| il / elle / on | programmera | he / she / it will programon: we will program / one will program | |
| nous | programmerons | we will program | |
| vous | programmerez | you will program | |
| ils / elles | programmeront | they will program |
IN A SENTENCEFuture example
Plus tard, Paul programmera un petit jeu vidéo.
Later, Paul will program a small video game.
Conditional Conditionnel présent
Hypothetical events and polite requests.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | programmerais | I would program | |
| tu | programmerais | you would program | |
| il / elle / on | programmerait | he / she / it would programon: we would program / one would program | |
| nous | programmerions | we would program | |
| vous | programmeriez | you would program | |
| ils / elles | programmeraient | they would program |
IN A SENTENCEConditional example
Paul programmerait un petit jeu vidéo.
Paul would program a small video game.
Present subjunctive Subjonctif présent
Dependent clauses expressing wishes, necessity, doubt, and certain feelings.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | programme | (that) I program | |
| tu | programmes | (that) you program | |
| il / elle / on | programme | (that) he / she / it programson: (that) we program / one programs | |
| nous | programmions | (that) we program | |
| vous | programmiez | (that) you program | |
| ils / elles | programment | (that) they program |
IN A SENTENCEPresent subjunctive example
Il est possible que Paul programme un petit jeu vidéo.
It is possible that Paul programs a small video game.
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 program
- to program, to write program code
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