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 back up.”
Present Présent
Habits, current states, and actions happening now.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | recule | I back up | |
| tu | recules | you back up | |
| il / elle / on | recule | he / she / it backs upon: we back up / one backs up | |
| nous | reculons | we back up | |
| vous | reculez | you back up | |
| ils / elles | reculent | they back up |
IN A SENTENCEPresent example
Paul recule pour laisser passer le vélo.
Paul backs up to let the bicycle pass.
Passé composé
Completed past events, using avoir or être plus a past participle.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | ai reculé | I backed up | |
| tu | as reculé | you backed up | |
| il / elle / on | a reculé | he / she / it backed upon: we backed up / one backed up | |
| nous | avons reculé | we backed up | |
| vous | avez reculé | you backed up | |
| ils / elles | ont reculé | they backed up |
IN A SENTENCEPassé composé example
Hier, Paul a reculé pour laisser passer le vélo.
Yesterday, Paul backed up to let the bicycle pass.
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’ | reculais | I used to back up | |
| tu | reculais | you used to back up | |
| il / elle / on | reculait | he / she / it used to back upon: we used to back up / one used to back up | |
| nous | reculions | we used to back up | |
| vous | reculiez | you used to back up | |
| ils / elles | reculaient | they used to back up |
IN A SENTENCEImperfect example
Autrefois, Paul reculait pour laisser passer le vélo.
Back then, Paul used to back up to let the bicycle pass.
Future Futur simple
Future events and predictions.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | reculerai | I will back up | |
| tu | reculeras | you will back up | |
| il / elle / on | reculera | he / she / it will back upon: we will back up / one will back up | |
| nous | reculerons | we will back up | |
| vous | reculerez | you will back up | |
| ils / elles | reculeront | they will back up |
IN A SENTENCEFuture example
Plus tard, Paul reculera pour laisser passer le vélo.
Later, Paul will back up to let the bicycle pass.
Conditional Conditionnel présent
Hypothetical events and polite requests.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | reculerais | I would back up | |
| tu | reculerais | you would back up | |
| il / elle / on | reculerait | he / she / it would back upon: we would back up / one would back up | |
| nous | reculerions | we would back up | |
| vous | reculeriez | you would back up | |
| ils / elles | reculeraient | they would back up |
IN A SENTENCEConditional example
Paul reculerait pour laisser passer le vélo.
Paul would back up to let the bicycle pass.
Present subjunctive Subjonctif présent
Dependent clauses expressing wishes, necessity, doubt, and certain feelings.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | recule | (that) I back up | |
| tu | recules | (that) you back up | |
| il / elle / on | recule | (that) he / she / it backs upon: (that) we back up / one backs up | |
| nous | reculions | (that) we back up | |
| vous | reculiez | (that) you back up | |
| ils / elles | reculent | (that) they back up |
IN A SENTENCEPresent subjunctive example
Il est possible que Paul recule pour laisser passer le vélo.
It is possible that Paul backs up to let the bicycle pass.
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 move back, to put back
- to go backwards
- to back down, to concede
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