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 prove.”
Present Présent
Habits, current states, and actions happening now.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | prouve | I prove | |
| tu | prouves | you prove | |
| il / elle / on | prouve | he / she / it proveson: we prove / one proves | |
| nous | prouvons | we prove | |
| vous | prouvez | you prove | |
| ils / elles | prouvent | they prove |
IN A SENTENCEPresent example
Paul prouve son innocence.
Paul proves his innocence.
Passé composé
Completed past events, using avoir or être plus a past participle.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | ai prouvé | I proved | |
| tu | as prouvé | you proved | |
| il / elle / on | a prouvé | he / she / it provedon: we proved / one proved | |
| nous | avons prouvé | we proved | |
| vous | avez prouvé | you proved | |
| ils / elles | ont prouvé | they proved |
IN A SENTENCEPassé composé example
Hier, Paul a prouvé son innocence.
Yesterday, Paul proved his innocence.
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’ | prouvais | I used to prove | |
| tu | prouvais | you used to prove | |
| il / elle / on | prouvait | he / she / it used to proveon: we used to prove / one used to prove | |
| nous | prouvions | we used to prove | |
| vous | prouviez | you used to prove | |
| ils / elles | prouvaient | they used to prove |
IN A SENTENCEImperfect example
Autrefois, Paul prouvait son innocence.
Back then, Paul used to prove his innocence.
Future Futur simple
Future events and predictions.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | prouverai | I will prove | |
| tu | prouveras | you will prove | |
| il / elle / on | prouvera | he / she / it will proveon: we will prove / one will prove | |
| nous | prouverons | we will prove | |
| vous | prouverez | you will prove | |
| ils / elles | prouveront | they will prove |
IN A SENTENCEFuture example
Plus tard, Paul prouvera son innocence.
Later, Paul will prove his innocence.
Conditional Conditionnel présent
Hypothetical events and polite requests.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | prouverais | I would prove | |
| tu | prouverais | you would prove | |
| il / elle / on | prouverait | he / she / it would proveon: we would prove / one would prove | |
| nous | prouverions | we would prove | |
| vous | prouveriez | you would prove | |
| ils / elles | prouveraient | they would prove |
IN A SENTENCEConditional example
Paul prouverait son innocence.
Paul would prove his innocence.
Present subjunctive Subjonctif présent
Dependent clauses expressing wishes, necessity, doubt, and certain feelings.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | prouve | (that) I prove | |
| tu | prouves | (that) you prove | |
| il / elle / on | prouve | (that) he / she / it proveson: (that) we prove / one proves | |
| nous | prouvions | (that) we prove | |
| vous | prouviez | (that) you prove | |
| ils / elles | prouvent | (that) they prove |
IN A SENTENCEPresent subjunctive example
Il est possible que Paul prouve son innocence.
It is possible that Paul proves his innocence.
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 prove
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