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 strengthen.”
Present Présent
Habits, current states, and actions happening now.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | renforce | I strengthen | |
| tu | renforces | you strengthen | |
| il / elle / on | renforce | he / she / it strengthenson: we strengthen / one strengthens | |
| nous | renforçons | we strengthen | |
| vous | renforcez | you strengthen | |
| ils / elles | renforcent | they strengthen |
IN A SENTENCEPresent example
Paul renforce la clôture du jardin.
Paul strengthens the garden fence.
Passé composé
Completed past events, using avoir or être plus a past participle.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | ai renforcé | I strengthened | |
| tu | as renforcé | you strengthened | |
| il / elle / on | a renforcé | he / she / it strengthenedon: we strengthened / one strengthened | |
| nous | avons renforcé | we strengthened | |
| vous | avez renforcé | you strengthened | |
| ils / elles | ont renforcé | they strengthened |
IN A SENTENCEPassé composé example
Hier, Paul a renforcé la clôture du jardin.
Yesterday, Paul strengthened the garden fence.
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’ | renforçais | I used to strengthen | |
| tu | renforçais | you used to strengthen | |
| il / elle / on | renforçait | he / she / it used to strengthenon: we used to strengthen / one used to strengthen | |
| nous | renforcions | we used to strengthen | |
| vous | renforciez | you used to strengthen | |
| ils / elles | renforçaient | they used to strengthen |
IN A SENTENCEImperfect example
Autrefois, Paul renforçait la clôture du jardin.
Back then, Paul used to strengthen the garden fence.
Future Futur simple
Future events and predictions.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | renforcerai | I will strengthen | |
| tu | renforceras | you will strengthen | |
| il / elle / on | renforcera | he / she / it will strengthenon: we will strengthen / one will strengthen | |
| nous | renforcerons | we will strengthen | |
| vous | renforcerez | you will strengthen | |
| ils / elles | renforceront | they will strengthen |
IN A SENTENCEFuture example
Plus tard, Paul renforcera la clôture du jardin.
Later, Paul will strengthen the garden fence.
Conditional Conditionnel présent
Hypothetical events and polite requests.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | renforcerais | I would strengthen | |
| tu | renforcerais | you would strengthen | |
| il / elle / on | renforcerait | he / she / it would strengthenon: we would strengthen / one would strengthen | |
| nous | renforcerions | we would strengthen | |
| vous | renforceriez | you would strengthen | |
| ils / elles | renforceraient | they would strengthen |
IN A SENTENCEConditional example
Paul renforcerait la clôture du jardin.
Paul would strengthen the garden fence.
Present subjunctive Subjonctif présent
Dependent clauses expressing wishes, necessity, doubt, and certain feelings.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | renforce | (that) I strengthen | |
| tu | renforces | (that) you strengthen | |
| il / elle / on | renforce | (that) he / she / it strengthenson: (that) we strengthen / one strengthens | |
| nous | renforcions | (that) we strengthen | |
| vous | renforciez | (that) you strengthen | |
| ils / elles | renforcent | (that) they strengthen |
IN A SENTENCEPresent subjunctive example
Il est possible que Paul renforce la clôture du jardin.
It is possible that Paul strengthens the garden fence.
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 reinforce, strengthen
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