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 call back.”
Present Présent
Habits, current states, and actions happening now.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | rappelle | I call back | |
| tu | rappelles | you call back | |
| il / elle / on | rappelle | he / she / it calls backon: we call back / one calls back | |
| nous | rappelons | we call back | |
| vous | rappelez | you call back | |
| ils / elles | rappellent | they call back |
IN A SENTENCEPresent example
Paul rappelle son ami après le repas.
Paul calls back his friend after the meal.
Passé composé
Completed past events, using avoir or être plus a past participle.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | ai rappelé | I called back | |
| tu | as rappelé | you called back | |
| il / elle / on | a rappelé | he / she / it called backon: we called back / one called back | |
| nous | avons rappelé | we called back | |
| vous | avez rappelé | you called back | |
| ils / elles | ont rappelé | they called back |
IN A SENTENCEPassé composé example
Hier, Paul a rappelé son ami après le repas.
Yesterday, Paul called back his friend after the meal.
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’ | rappelais | I used to call back | |
| tu | rappelais | you used to call back | |
| il / elle / on | rappelait | he / she / it used to call backon: we used to call back / one used to call back | |
| nous | rappelions | we used to call back | |
| vous | rappeliez | you used to call back | |
| ils / elles | rappelaient | they used to call back |
IN A SENTENCEImperfect example
Autrefois, Paul rappelait son ami après le repas.
Back then, Paul used to call back his friend after the meal.
Future Futur simple
Future events and predictions.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | rappellerai | I will call back | |
| tu | rappelleras | you will call back | |
| il / elle / on | rappellera | he / she / it will call backon: we will call back / one will call back | |
| nous | rappellerons | we will call back | |
| vous | rappellerez | you will call back | |
| ils / elles | rappelleront | they will call back |
IN A SENTENCEFuture example
Plus tard, Paul rappellera son ami après le repas.
Later, Paul will call back his friend after the meal.
Conditional Conditionnel présent
Hypothetical events and polite requests.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | rappellerais | I would call back | |
| tu | rappellerais | you would call back | |
| il / elle / on | rappellerait | he / she / it would call backon: we would call back / one would call back | |
| nous | rappellerions | we would call back | |
| vous | rappelleriez | you would call back | |
| ils / elles | rappelleraient | they would call back |
IN A SENTENCEConditional example
Paul rappellerait son ami après le repas.
Paul would call back his friend after the meal.
Present subjunctive Subjonctif présent
Dependent clauses expressing wishes, necessity, doubt, and certain feelings.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | rappelle | (that) I call back | |
| tu | rappelles | (that) you call back | |
| il / elle / on | rappelle | (that) he / she / it calls backon: (that) we call back / one calls back | |
| nous | rappelions | (that) we call back | |
| vous | rappeliez | (that) you call back | |
| ils / elles | rappellent | (that) they call back |
IN A SENTENCEPresent subjunctive example
Il est possible que Paul rappelle son ami après le repas.
It is possible that Paul calls back his friend after the meal.
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 call again; to call back
- to remind
- To request or order the return of (a faulty product).
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