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 react.”
Present Présent
Habits, current states, and actions happening now.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | réagis | I react | |
| tu | réagis | you react | |
| il / elle / on | réagit | he / she / it reactson: we react / one reacts | |
| nous | réagissons | we react | |
| vous | réagissez | you react | |
| ils / elles | réagissent | they react |
IN A SENTENCEPresent example
Paul réagit rapidement à la nouvelle.
Paul reacts quickly to the news.
Passé composé
Completed past events, using avoir or être plus a past participle.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | ai réagi | I reacted | |
| tu | as réagi | you reacted | |
| il / elle / on | a réagi | he / she / it reactedon: we reacted / one reacted | |
| nous | avons réagi | we reacted | |
| vous | avez réagi | you reacted | |
| ils / elles | ont réagi | they reacted |
IN A SENTENCEPassé composé example
Hier, Paul a réagi rapidement à la nouvelle.
Yesterday, Paul reacted quickly to the news.
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’ | réagissais | I used to react | |
| tu | réagissais | you used to react | |
| il / elle / on | réagissait | he / she / it used to reacton: we used to react / one used to react | |
| nous | réagissions | we used to react | |
| vous | réagissiez | you used to react | |
| ils / elles | réagissaient | they used to react |
IN A SENTENCEImperfect example
Autrefois, Paul réagissait rapidement à la nouvelle.
Back then, Paul used to react quickly to the news.
Future Futur simple
Future events and predictions.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | réagirai | I will react | |
| tu | réagiras | you will react | |
| il / elle / on | réagira | he / she / it will reacton: we will react / one will react | |
| nous | réagirons | we will react | |
| vous | réagirez | you will react | |
| ils / elles | réagiront | they will react |
IN A SENTENCEFuture example
Plus tard, Paul réagira rapidement à la nouvelle.
Later, Paul will react quickly to the news.
Conditional Conditionnel présent
Hypothetical events and polite requests.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | réagirais | I would react | |
| tu | réagirais | you would react | |
| il / elle / on | réagirait | he / she / it would reacton: we would react / one would react | |
| nous | réagirions | we would react | |
| vous | réagiriez | you would react | |
| ils / elles | réagiraient | they would react |
IN A SENTENCEConditional example
Paul réagirait rapidement à la nouvelle.
Paul would react quickly to the news.
Present subjunctive Subjonctif présent
Dependent clauses expressing wishes, necessity, doubt, and certain feelings.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | réagisse | (that) I react | |
| tu | réagisses | (that) you react | |
| il / elle / on | réagisse | (that) he / she / it reactson: (that) we react / one reacts | |
| nous | réagissions | (that) we react | |
| vous | réagissiez | (that) you react | |
| ils / elles | réagissent | (that) they react |
IN A SENTENCEPresent subjunctive example
Il est possible que Paul réagisse rapidement à la nouvelle.
It is possible that Paul reacts quickly to the news.
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 react, respond
- to react
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