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 shave.”
Present Présent
Habits, current states, and actions happening now.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | rase | I shave | |
| tu | rases | you shave | |
| il / elle / on | rase | he / she / it shaveson: we shave / one shaves | |
| nous | rasons | we shave | |
| vous | rasez | you shave | |
| ils / elles | rasent | they shave |
IN A SENTENCEPresent example
Le barbier rase la barbe de Paul.
The barber shaves Paul's beard.
Passé composé
Completed past events, using avoir or être plus a past participle.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | ai rasé | I shaved | |
| tu | as rasé | you shaved | |
| il / elle / on | a rasé | he / she / it shavedon: we shaved / one shaved | |
| nous | avons rasé | we shaved | |
| vous | avez rasé | you shaved | |
| ils / elles | ont rasé | they shaved |
IN A SENTENCEPassé composé example
Hier, le barbier a rasé la barbe de Paul.
Yesterday, the barber shaved Paul's beard.
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’ | rasais | I used to shave | |
| tu | rasais | you used to shave | |
| il / elle / on | rasait | he / she / it used to shaveon: we used to shave / one used to shave | |
| nous | rasions | we used to shave | |
| vous | rasiez | you used to shave | |
| ils / elles | rasaient | they used to shave |
IN A SENTENCEImperfect example
Autrefois, le barbier rasait la barbe de Paul.
Back then, the barber used to shave Paul's beard.
Future Futur simple
Future events and predictions.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | raserai | I will shave | |
| tu | raseras | you will shave | |
| il / elle / on | rasera | he / she / it will shaveon: we will shave / one will shave | |
| nous | raserons | we will shave | |
| vous | raserez | you will shave | |
| ils / elles | raseront | they will shave |
IN A SENTENCEFuture example
Plus tard, le barbier rasera la barbe de Paul.
Later, the barber will shave Paul's beard.
Conditional Conditionnel présent
Hypothetical events and polite requests.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | raserais | I would shave | |
| tu | raserais | you would shave | |
| il / elle / on | raserait | he / she / it would shaveon: we would shave / one would shave | |
| nous | raserions | we would shave | |
| vous | raseriez | you would shave | |
| ils / elles | raseraient | they would shave |
IN A SENTENCEConditional example
Le barbier raserait la barbe de Paul.
The barber would shave Paul's beard.
Present subjunctive Subjonctif présent
Dependent clauses expressing wishes, necessity, doubt, and certain feelings.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | rase | (that) I shave | |
| tu | rases | (that) you shave | |
| il / elle / on | rase | (that) he / she / it shaveson: (that) we shave / one shaves | |
| nous | rasions | (that) we shave | |
| vous | rasiez | (that) you shave | |
| ils / elles | rasent | (that) they shave |
IN A SENTENCEPresent subjunctive example
Il est possible que le barbier rase la barbe de Paul.
It is possible that the barber shaves Paul's beard.
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 shave
- to brush, lightly touch
- to raze (level to the ground)
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