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 question.”
Present Présent
Habits, current states, and actions happening now.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | questionne | I question | |
| tu | questionnes | you question | |
| il / elle / on | questionne | he / she / it questionson: we question / one questions | |
| nous | questionnons | we question | |
| vous | questionnez | you question | |
| ils / elles | questionnent | they question |
IN A SENTENCEPresent example
Paul questionne le guide sur l'histoire du château.
Paul questions the guide about the castle's history.
Passé composé
Completed past events, using avoir or être plus a past participle.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | ai questionné | I questioned | |
| tu | as questionné | you questioned | |
| il / elle / on | a questionné | he / she / it questionedon: we questioned / one questioned | |
| nous | avons questionné | we questioned | |
| vous | avez questionné | you questioned | |
| ils / elles | ont questionné | they questioned |
IN A SENTENCEPassé composé example
Hier, Paul a questionné le guide sur l'histoire du château.
Yesterday, Paul questioned the guide about the castle's history.
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’ | questionnais | I used to question | |
| tu | questionnais | you used to question | |
| il / elle / on | questionnait | he / she / it used to questionon: we used to question / one used to question | |
| nous | questionnions | we used to question | |
| vous | questionniez | you used to question | |
| ils / elles | questionnaient | they used to question |
IN A SENTENCEImperfect example
Autrefois, Paul questionnait le guide sur l'histoire du château.
Back then, Paul used to question the guide about the castle's history.
Future Futur simple
Future events and predictions.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | questionnerai | I will question | |
| tu | questionneras | you will question | |
| il / elle / on | questionnera | he / she / it will questionon: we will question / one will question | |
| nous | questionnerons | we will question | |
| vous | questionnerez | you will question | |
| ils / elles | questionneront | they will question |
IN A SENTENCEFuture example
Plus tard, Paul questionnera le guide sur l'histoire du château.
Later, Paul will question the guide about the castle's history.
Conditional Conditionnel présent
Hypothetical events and polite requests.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | questionnerais | I would question | |
| tu | questionnerais | you would question | |
| il / elle / on | questionnerait | he / she / it would questionon: we would question / one would question | |
| nous | questionnerions | we would question | |
| vous | questionneriez | you would question | |
| ils / elles | questionneraient | they would question |
IN A SENTENCEConditional example
Paul questionnerait le guide sur l'histoire du château.
Paul would question the guide about the castle's history.
Present subjunctive Subjonctif présent
Dependent clauses expressing wishes, necessity, doubt, and certain feelings.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | questionne | (that) I question | |
| tu | questionnes | (that) you question | |
| il / elle / on | questionne | (that) he / she / it questionson: (that) we question / one questions | |
| nous | questionnions | (that) we question | |
| vous | questionniez | (that) you question | |
| ils / elles | questionnent | (that) they question |
IN A SENTENCEPresent subjunctive example
Il est possible que Paul questionne le guide sur l'histoire du château.
It is possible that Paul questions the guide about the castle's history.
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 question, interrogate
- to call into question
- to question, ask (someone)
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