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 reason.”
Present Présent
Habits, current states, and actions happening now.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | raisonne | I reason | |
| tu | raisonnes | you reason | |
| il / elle / on | raisonne | he / she / it reasonson: we reason / one reasons | |
| nous | raisonnons | we reason | |
| vous | raisonnez | you reason | |
| ils / elles | raisonnent | they reason |
IN A SENTENCEPresent example
Paul raisonne à partir des faits.
Paul reasons from the facts.
Passé composé
Completed past events, using avoir or être plus a past participle.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | ai raisonné | I reasoned | |
| tu | as raisonné | you reasoned | |
| il / elle / on | a raisonné | he / she / it reasonedon: we reasoned / one reasoned | |
| nous | avons raisonné | we reasoned | |
| vous | avez raisonné | you reasoned | |
| ils / elles | ont raisonné | they reasoned |
IN A SENTENCEPassé composé example
Hier, Paul a raisonné à partir des faits.
Yesterday, Paul reasoned from the facts.
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’ | raisonnais | I used to reason | |
| tu | raisonnais | you used to reason | |
| il / elle / on | raisonnait | he / she / it used to reasonon: we used to reason / one used to reason | |
| nous | raisonnions | we used to reason | |
| vous | raisonniez | you used to reason | |
| ils / elles | raisonnaient | they used to reason |
IN A SENTENCEImperfect example
Autrefois, Paul raisonnait à partir des faits.
Back then, Paul used to reason from the facts.
Future Futur simple
Future events and predictions.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | raisonnerai | I will reason | |
| tu | raisonneras | you will reason | |
| il / elle / on | raisonnera | he / she / it will reasonon: we will reason / one will reason | |
| nous | raisonnerons | we will reason | |
| vous | raisonnerez | you will reason | |
| ils / elles | raisonneront | they will reason |
IN A SENTENCEFuture example
Plus tard, Paul raisonnera à partir des faits.
Later, Paul will reason from the facts.
Conditional Conditionnel présent
Hypothetical events and polite requests.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | raisonnerais | I would reason | |
| tu | raisonnerais | you would reason | |
| il / elle / on | raisonnerait | he / she / it would reasonon: we would reason / one would reason | |
| nous | raisonnerions | we would reason | |
| vous | raisonneriez | you would reason | |
| ils / elles | raisonneraient | they would reason |
IN A SENTENCEConditional example
Paul raisonnerait à partir des faits.
Paul would reason from the facts.
Present subjunctive Subjonctif présent
Dependent clauses expressing wishes, necessity, doubt, and certain feelings.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | raisonne | (that) I reason | |
| tu | raisonnes | (that) you reason | |
| il / elle / on | raisonne | (that) he / she / it reasonson: (that) we reason / one reasons | |
| nous | raisonnions | (that) we reason | |
| vous | raisonniez | (that) you reason | |
| ils / elles | raisonnent | (that) they reason |
IN A SENTENCEPresent subjunctive example
Il est possible que Paul raisonne à partir des faits.
It is possible that Paul reasons from the facts.
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 reason
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