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 straighten.”
Present Présent
Habits, current states, and actions happening now.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | redresse | I straighten | |
| tu | redresses | you straighten | |
| il / elle / on | redresse | he / she / it straightenson: we straighten / one straightens | |
| nous | redressons | we straighten | |
| vous | redressez | you straighten | |
| ils / elles | redressent | they straighten |
IN A SENTENCEPresent example
Paul redresse la tige tordue.
Paul straightens the bent stem.
Passé composé
Completed past events, using avoir or être plus a past participle.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | ai redressé | I straightened | |
| tu | as redressé | you straightened | |
| il / elle / on | a redressé | he / she / it straightenedon: we straightened / one straightened | |
| nous | avons redressé | we straightened | |
| vous | avez redressé | you straightened | |
| ils / elles | ont redressé | they straightened |
IN A SENTENCEPassé composé example
Hier, Paul a redressé la tige tordue.
Yesterday, Paul straightened the bent stem.
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’ | redressais | I used to straighten | |
| tu | redressais | you used to straighten | |
| il / elle / on | redressait | he / she / it used to straightenon: we used to straighten / one used to straighten | |
| nous | redressions | we used to straighten | |
| vous | redressiez | you used to straighten | |
| ils / elles | redressaient | they used to straighten |
IN A SENTENCEImperfect example
Autrefois, Paul redressait la tige tordue.
Back then, Paul used to straighten the bent stem.
Future Futur simple
Future events and predictions.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | redresserai | I will straighten | |
| tu | redresseras | you will straighten | |
| il / elle / on | redressera | he / she / it will straightenon: we will straighten / one will straighten | |
| nous | redresserons | we will straighten | |
| vous | redresserez | you will straighten | |
| ils / elles | redresseront | they will straighten |
IN A SENTENCEFuture example
Plus tard, Paul redressera la tige tordue.
Later, Paul will straighten the bent stem.
Conditional Conditionnel présent
Hypothetical events and polite requests.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | redresserais | I would straighten | |
| tu | redresserais | you would straighten | |
| il / elle / on | redresserait | he / she / it would straightenon: we would straighten / one would straighten | |
| nous | redresserions | we would straighten | |
| vous | redresseriez | you would straighten | |
| ils / elles | redresseraient | they would straighten |
IN A SENTENCEConditional example
Paul redresserait la tige tordue.
Paul would straighten the bent stem.
Present subjunctive Subjonctif présent
Dependent clauses expressing wishes, necessity, doubt, and certain feelings.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | redresse | (that) I straighten | |
| tu | redresses | (that) you straighten | |
| il / elle / on | redresse | (that) he / she / it straightenson: (that) we straighten / one straightens | |
| nous | redressions | (that) we straighten | |
| vous | redressiez | (that) you straighten | |
| ils / elles | redressent | (that) they straighten |
IN A SENTENCEPresent subjunctive example
Il est possible que Paul redresse la tige tordue.
It is possible that Paul straightens the bent stem.
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 straighten (up)
- to rectify, straighten out
- to restore, turn around
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