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 pronounce.”
Present Présent
Habits, current states, and actions happening now.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | prononce | I pronounce | |
| tu | prononces | you pronounce | |
| il / elle / on | prononce | he / she / it pronounceson: we pronounce / one pronounces | |
| nous | prononçons | we pronounce | |
| vous | prononcez | you pronounce | |
| ils / elles | prononcent | they pronounce |
IN A SENTENCEPresent example
Paul prononce ce mot lentement.
Paul pronounces this word slowly.
Passé composé
Completed past events, using avoir or être plus a past participle.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | ai prononcé | I pronounced | |
| tu | as prononcé | you pronounced | |
| il / elle / on | a prononcé | he / she / it pronouncedon: we pronounced / one pronounced | |
| nous | avons prononcé | we pronounced | |
| vous | avez prononcé | you pronounced | |
| ils / elles | ont prononcé | they pronounced |
IN A SENTENCEPassé composé example
Hier, Paul a prononcé ce mot lentement.
Yesterday, Paul pronounced this word slowly.
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’ | prononçais | I used to pronounce | |
| tu | prononçais | you used to pronounce | |
| il / elle / on | prononçait | he / she / it used to pronounceon: we used to pronounce / one used to pronounce | |
| nous | prononcions | we used to pronounce | |
| vous | prononciez | you used to pronounce | |
| ils / elles | prononçaient | they used to pronounce |
IN A SENTENCEImperfect example
Autrefois, Paul prononçait ce mot lentement.
Back then, Paul used to pronounce this word slowly.
Future Futur simple
Future events and predictions.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | prononcerai | I will pronounce | |
| tu | prononceras | you will pronounce | |
| il / elle / on | prononcera | he / she / it will pronounceon: we will pronounce / one will pronounce | |
| nous | prononcerons | we will pronounce | |
| vous | prononcerez | you will pronounce | |
| ils / elles | prononceront | they will pronounce |
IN A SENTENCEFuture example
Plus tard, Paul prononcera ce mot lentement.
Later, Paul will pronounce this word slowly.
Conditional Conditionnel présent
Hypothetical events and polite requests.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | prononcerais | I would pronounce | |
| tu | prononcerais | you would pronounce | |
| il / elle / on | prononcerait | he / she / it would pronounceon: we would pronounce / one would pronounce | |
| nous | prononcerions | we would pronounce | |
| vous | prononceriez | you would pronounce | |
| ils / elles | prononceraient | they would pronounce |
IN A SENTENCEConditional example
Paul prononcerait ce mot lentement.
Paul would pronounce this word slowly.
Present subjunctive Subjonctif présent
Dependent clauses expressing wishes, necessity, doubt, and certain feelings.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | prononce | (that) I pronounce | |
| tu | prononces | (that) you pronounce | |
| il / elle / on | prononce | (that) he / she / it pronounceson: (that) we pronounce / one pronounces | |
| nous | prononcions | (that) we pronounce | |
| vous | prononciez | (that) you pronounce | |
| ils / elles | prononcent | (that) they pronounce |
IN A SENTENCEPresent subjunctive example
Il est possible que Paul prononce ce mot lentement.
It is possible that Paul pronounces this word slowly.
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 pronounce
- to say, mention
- to give, deliver (a speech)
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