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 note.”
Present Présent
Habits, current states, and actions happening now.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | relève | I note | |
| tu | relèves | you note | |
| il / elle / on | relève | he / she / it noteson: we note / one notes | |
| nous | relevons | we note | |
| vous | relevez | you note | |
| ils / elles | relèvent | they note |
IN A SENTENCEPresent example
Paul relève les erreurs dans le texte.
Paul notes the errors in the text.
Passé composé
Completed past events, using avoir or être plus a past participle.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | ai relevé | I noted | |
| tu | as relevé | you noted | |
| il / elle / on | a relevé | he / she / it notedon: we noted / one noted | |
| nous | avons relevé | we noted | |
| vous | avez relevé | you noted | |
| ils / elles | ont relevé | they noted |
IN A SENTENCEPassé composé example
Hier, Paul a relevé les erreurs dans le texte.
Yesterday, Paul noted the errors in the text.
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’ | relevais | I used to note | |
| tu | relevais | you used to note | |
| il / elle / on | relevait | he / she / it used to noteon: we used to note / one used to note | |
| nous | relevions | we used to note | |
| vous | releviez | you used to note | |
| ils / elles | relevaient | they used to note |
IN A SENTENCEImperfect example
Autrefois, Paul relevait les erreurs dans le texte.
Back then, Paul used to note the errors in the text.
Future Futur simple
Future events and predictions.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | relèverai | I will note | |
| tu | relèveras | you will note | |
| il / elle / on | relèvera | he / she / it will noteon: we will note / one will note | |
| nous | relèverons | we will note | |
| vous | relèverez | you will note | |
| ils / elles | relèveront | they will note |
IN A SENTENCEFuture example
Plus tard, Paul relèvera les erreurs dans le texte.
Later, Paul will note the errors in the text.
Conditional Conditionnel présent
Hypothetical events and polite requests.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | relèverais | I would note | |
| tu | relèverais | you would note | |
| il / elle / on | relèverait | he / she / it would noteon: we would note / one would note | |
| nous | relèverions | we would note | |
| vous | relèveriez | you would note | |
| ils / elles | relèveraient | they would note |
IN A SENTENCEConditional example
Paul relèverait les erreurs dans le texte.
Paul would note the errors in the text.
Present subjunctive Subjonctif présent
Dependent clauses expressing wishes, necessity, doubt, and certain feelings.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | relève | (that) I note | |
| tu | relèves | (that) you note | |
| il / elle / on | relève | (that) he / she / it noteson: (that) we note / one notes | |
| nous | relevions | (that) we note | |
| vous | releviez | (that) you note | |
| ils / elles | relèvent | (that) they note |
IN A SENTENCEPresent subjunctive example
Il est possible que Paul relève les erreurs dans le texte.
It is possible that Paul notes the errors in the text.
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 raise again; to note
- to stand up (again); to stand, to right (a vehicle etc.)
- to help (someone) to their feet; to help up
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