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 describe.”
Present Présent
Habits, current states, and actions happening now.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | qualifie | I describe | |
| tu | qualifies | you describe | |
| il / elle / on | qualifie | he / she / it describeson: we describe / one describes | |
| nous | qualifions | we describe | |
| vous | qualifiez | you describe | |
| ils / elles | qualifient | they describe |
IN A SENTENCEPresent example
Le critique qualifie ce roman de chef-d'œuvre.
The critic describes this novel as a masterpiece.
Passé composé
Completed past events, using avoir or être plus a past participle.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | ai qualifié | I described | |
| tu | as qualifié | you described | |
| il / elle / on | a qualifié | he / she / it describedon: we described / one described | |
| nous | avons qualifié | we described | |
| vous | avez qualifié | you described | |
| ils / elles | ont qualifié | they described |
IN A SENTENCEPassé composé example
Hier, le critique a qualifié ce roman de chef-d'œuvre.
Yesterday, the critic described this novel as a masterpiece.
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’ | qualifiais | I used to describe | |
| tu | qualifiais | you used to describe | |
| il / elle / on | qualifiait | he / she / it used to describeon: we used to describe / one used to describe | |
| nous | qualifiions | we used to describe | |
| vous | qualifiiez | you used to describe | |
| ils / elles | qualifiaient | they used to describe |
IN A SENTENCEImperfect example
Autrefois, le critique qualifiait ce roman de chef-d'œuvre.
Back then, the critic used to describe this novel as a masterpiece.
Future Futur simple
Future events and predictions.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | qualifierai | I will describe | |
| tu | qualifieras | you will describe | |
| il / elle / on | qualifiera | he / she / it will describeon: we will describe / one will describe | |
| nous | qualifierons | we will describe | |
| vous | qualifierez | you will describe | |
| ils / elles | qualifieront | they will describe |
IN A SENTENCEFuture example
Plus tard, le critique qualifiera ce roman de chef-d'œuvre.
Later, the critic will describe this novel as a masterpiece.
Conditional Conditionnel présent
Hypothetical events and polite requests.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | qualifierais | I would describe | |
| tu | qualifierais | you would describe | |
| il / elle / on | qualifierait | he / she / it would describeon: we would describe / one would describe | |
| nous | qualifierions | we would describe | |
| vous | qualifieriez | you would describe | |
| ils / elles | qualifieraient | they would describe |
IN A SENTENCEConditional example
Le critique qualifierait ce roman de chef-d'œuvre.
The critic would describe this novel as a masterpiece.
Present subjunctive Subjonctif présent
Dependent clauses expressing wishes, necessity, doubt, and certain feelings.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | qualifie | (that) I describe | |
| tu | qualifies | (that) you describe | |
| il / elle / on | qualifie | (that) he / she / it describeson: (that) we describe / one describes | |
| nous | qualifiions | (that) we describe | |
| vous | qualifiiez | (that) you describe | |
| ils / elles | qualifient | (that) they describe |
IN A SENTENCEPresent subjunctive example
Il est possible que le critique qualifie ce roman de chef-d'œuvre.
It is possible that the critic describes this novel as a masterpiece.
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 characterize, to consider
- to characterize (to be characteristic of)
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