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 bring back.”
Present Présent
Habits, current states, and actions happening now.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | ramène | I bring back | |
| tu | ramènes | you bring back | |
| il / elle / on | ramène | he / she / it brings backon: we bring back / one brings back | |
| nous | ramenons | we bring back | |
| vous | ramenez | you bring back | |
| ils / elles | ramènent | they bring back |
IN A SENTENCEPresent example
Paul ramène son frère à la maison.
Paul brings his brother back home.
Passé composé
Completed past events, using avoir or être plus a past participle.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | ai ramené | I brought back | |
| tu | as ramené | you brought back | |
| il / elle / on | a ramené | he / she / it brought backon: we brought back / one brought back | |
| nous | avons ramené | we brought back | |
| vous | avez ramené | you brought back | |
| ils / elles | ont ramené | they brought back |
IN A SENTENCEPassé composé example
Hier, Paul a ramené son frère à la maison.
Yesterday, Paul brought his brother back home.
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’ | ramenais | I used to bring back | |
| tu | ramenais | you used to bring back | |
| il / elle / on | ramenait | he / she / it used to bring backon: we used to bring back / one used to bring back | |
| nous | ramenions | we used to bring back | |
| vous | rameniez | you used to bring back | |
| ils / elles | ramenaient | they used to bring back |
IN A SENTENCEImperfect example
Autrefois, Paul ramenait son frère à la maison après les cours.
Back then, Paul used to bring his brother back home after class.
Future Futur simple
Future events and predictions.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | ramènerai | I will bring back | |
| tu | ramèneras | you will bring back | |
| il / elle / on | ramènera | he / she / it will bring backon: we will bring back / one will bring back | |
| nous | ramènerons | we will bring back | |
| vous | ramènerez | you will bring back | |
| ils / elles | ramèneront | they will bring back |
IN A SENTENCEFuture example
Demain, Paul ramènera son frère à la maison.
Tomorrow, Paul will bring his brother back home.
Conditional Conditionnel présent
Hypothetical events and polite requests.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | ramènerais | I would bring back | |
| tu | ramènerais | you would bring back | |
| il / elle / on | ramènerait | he / she / it would bring backon: we would bring back / one would bring back | |
| nous | ramènerions | we would bring back | |
| vous | ramèneriez | you would bring back | |
| ils / elles | ramèneraient | they would bring back |
IN A SENTENCEConditional example
Avec une voiture, Paul ramènerait son frère à la maison.
With a car, Paul would bring his brother back home.
Present subjunctive Subjonctif présent
Dependent clauses expressing wishes, necessity, doubt, and certain feelings.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | ramène | (that) I bring back | |
| tu | ramènes | (that) you bring back | |
| il / elle / on | ramène | (that) he / she / it brings backon: (that) we bring back / one brings back | |
| nous | ramenions | (that) we bring back | |
| vous | rameniez | (that) you bring back | |
| ils / elles | ramènent | (that) they bring back |
IN A SENTENCEPresent subjunctive example
Il est possible que Paul ramène son frère à la maison.
Paul may bring his brother back home.
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 take back, bring back, restore
- to draw, pull (back)
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