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 go back.”
Present Présent
Habits, current states, and actions happening now.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | rentre | I go back | |
| tu | rentres | you go back | |
| il / elle / on | rentre | he / she / it goes backon: we go back / one goes back | |
| nous | rentrons | we go back | |
| vous | rentrez | you go back | |
| ils / elles | rentrent | they go back |
IN A SENTENCEPresent example
Paul rentre à la maison après le travail.
Paul goes back home after work.
Passé composé
Completed past events, using avoir or être plus a past participle.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | suis rentré / suis rentrée | I went back | |
| tu | es rentré / es rentrée | you went back | |
| il / elle / on | est rentré / est rentrée | he / she / it went backon: we went back / one went back | |
| nous | sommes rentrés / sommes rentrées | we went back | |
| vous | êtes rentré / êtes rentrée / êtes rentrés / êtes rentrées | you went back | |
| ils / elles | sont rentrés / sont rentrées | they went back |
IN A SENTENCEPassé composé example
Hier, Paul est rentré à la maison après le travail.
Yesterday, Paul went back home after work.
The passé composé shown is the intransitive motion use with être. With a direct object, this verb can use avoir; check the meaning in context. With être, the participle agrees with the subject: feminine -e, plural -s. The table gives masculine and feminine alternatives; vous may be singular or plural. With on meaning we, plural agreement is also possible.
Back to tense navigation ↑Imperfect Imparfait
Past habits, descriptions, and actions in progress.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | rentrais | I used to go back | |
| tu | rentrais | you used to go back | |
| il / elle / on | rentrait | he / she / it used to go backon: we used to go back / one used to go back | |
| nous | rentrions | we used to go back | |
| vous | rentriez | you used to go back | |
| ils / elles | rentraient | they used to go back |
IN A SENTENCEImperfect example
Autrefois, Paul rentrait à la maison après le travail.
Back then, Paul used to go back home after work.
Future Futur simple
Future events and predictions.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | rentrerai | I will go back | |
| tu | rentreras | you will go back | |
| il / elle / on | rentrera | he / she / it will go backon: we will go back / one will go back | |
| nous | rentrerons | we will go back | |
| vous | rentrerez | you will go back | |
| ils / elles | rentreront | they will go back |
IN A SENTENCEFuture example
Plus tard, Paul rentrera à la maison après le travail.
Later, Paul will go back home after work.
Conditional Conditionnel présent
Hypothetical events and polite requests.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | rentrerais | I would go back | |
| tu | rentrerais | you would go back | |
| il / elle / on | rentrerait | he / she / it would go backon: we would go back / one would go back | |
| nous | rentrerions | we would go back | |
| vous | rentreriez | you would go back | |
| ils / elles | rentreraient | they would go back |
IN A SENTENCEConditional example
Paul rentrerait à la maison après le travail.
Paul would go back home after work.
Present subjunctive Subjonctif présent
Dependent clauses expressing wishes, necessity, doubt, and certain feelings.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | rentre | (that) I go back | |
| tu | rentres | (that) you go back | |
| il / elle / on | rentre | (that) he / she / it goes backon: (that) we go back / one goes back | |
| nous | rentrions | (that) we go back | |
| vous | rentriez | (that) you go back | |
| ils / elles | rentrent | (that) they go back |
IN A SENTENCEPresent subjunctive example
Il est possible que Paul rentre à la maison après le travail.
It is possible that Paul goes back home after work.
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 go back, to re-enter
- to go (back) home, to come (back) home
- to get in, to go in, to fit in
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