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 reign.”
Present Présent
Habits, current states, and actions happening now.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | règne | I reign | |
| tu | règnes | you reign | |
| il / elle / on | règne | he / she / it reignson: we reign / one reigns | |
| nous | régnons | we reign | |
| vous | régnez | you reign | |
| ils / elles | règnent | they reign |
IN A SENTENCEPresent example
Le roi règne sur un petit royaume.
The king reigns over a small kingdom.
Passé composé
Completed past events, using avoir or être plus a past participle.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | ai régné | I reigned | |
| tu | as régné | you reigned | |
| il / elle / on | a régné | he / she / it reignedon: we reigned / one reigned | |
| nous | avons régné | we reigned | |
| vous | avez régné | you reigned | |
| ils / elles | ont régné | they reigned |
IN A SENTENCEPassé composé example
Hier, le roi a régné sur un petit royaume.
Yesterday, the king reigned over a small kingdom.
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’ | régnais | I used to reign | |
| tu | régnais | you used to reign | |
| il / elle / on | régnait | he / she / it used to reignon: we used to reign / one used to reign | |
| nous | régnions | we used to reign | |
| vous | régniez | you used to reign | |
| ils / elles | régnaient | they used to reign |
IN A SENTENCEImperfect example
Autrefois, le roi régnait sur un petit royaume.
Back then, the king used to reign over a small kingdom.
Future Futur simple
Future events and predictions.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | règnerai / régnerai | I will reign | |
| tu | règneras / régneras | you will reign | |
| il / elle / on | règnera / régnera | he / she / it will reignon: we will reign / one will reign | |
| nous | règnerons / régnerons | we will reign | |
| vous | règnerez / régnerez | you will reign | |
| ils / elles | règneront / régneront | they will reign |
IN A SENTENCEFuture example
Plus tard, le roi règnera sur un petit royaume.
Later, the king will reign over a small kingdom.
Conditional Conditionnel présent
Hypothetical events and polite requests.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | règnerais / régnerais | I would reign | |
| tu | règnerais / régnerais | you would reign | |
| il / elle / on | règnerait / régnerait | he / she / it would reignon: we would reign / one would reign | |
| nous | règnerions / régnerions | we would reign | |
| vous | règneriez / régneriez | you would reign | |
| ils / elles | règneraient / régneraient | they would reign |
IN A SENTENCEConditional example
Le roi règnerait sur un petit royaume.
The king would reign over a small kingdom.
Present subjunctive Subjonctif présent
Dependent clauses expressing wishes, necessity, doubt, and certain feelings.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | règne | (that) I reign | |
| tu | règnes | (that) you reign | |
| il / elle / on | règne | (that) he / she / it reignson: (that) we reign / one reigns | |
| nous | régnions | (that) we reign | |
| vous | régniez | (that) you reign | |
| ils / elles | règnent | (that) they reign |
IN A SENTENCEPresent subjunctive example
Il est possible que le roi règne sur un petit royaume.
It is possible that the king reigns over a small kingdom.
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 reign (of a monarch)
- to reign (to have a powerful influence on)
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