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 spot.”
Present Présent
Habits, current states, and actions happening now.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | repère | I spot | |
| tu | repères | you spot | |
| il / elle / on | repère | he / she / it spotson: we spot / one spots | |
| nous | repérons | we spot | |
| vous | repérez | you spot | |
| ils / elles | repèrent | they spot |
IN A SENTENCEPresent example
Paul repère un oiseau rare dans l'arbre.
Paul spots a rare bird in the tree.
Passé composé
Completed past events, using avoir or être plus a past participle.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | ai repéré | I spotted | |
| tu | as repéré | you spotted | |
| il / elle / on | a repéré | he / she / it spottedon: we spotted / one spotted | |
| nous | avons repéré | we spotted | |
| vous | avez repéré | you spotted | |
| ils / elles | ont repéré | they spotted |
IN A SENTENCEPassé composé example
Hier, Paul a repéré un oiseau rare dans l'arbre.
Yesterday, Paul spotted a rare bird in the tree.
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’ | repérais | I used to spot | |
| tu | repérais | you used to spot | |
| il / elle / on | repérait | he / she / it used to spoton: we used to spot / one used to spot | |
| nous | repérions | we used to spot | |
| vous | repériez | you used to spot | |
| ils / elles | repéraient | they used to spot |
IN A SENTENCEImperfect example
Autrefois, Paul repérait un oiseau rare dans l'arbre.
Back then, Paul used to spot a rare bird in the tree.
Future Futur simple
Future events and predictions.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | repèrerai / repérerai | I will spot | |
| tu | repèreras / repéreras | you will spot | |
| il / elle / on | repèrera / repérera | he / she / it will spoton: we will spot / one will spot | |
| nous | repèrerons / repérerons | we will spot | |
| vous | repèrerez / repérerez | you will spot | |
| ils / elles | repèreront / repéreront | they will spot |
IN A SENTENCEFuture example
Plus tard, Paul repèrera un oiseau rare dans l'arbre.
Later, Paul will spot a rare bird in the tree.
Conditional Conditionnel présent
Hypothetical events and polite requests.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | repèrerais / repérerais | I would spot | |
| tu | repèrerais / repérerais | you would spot | |
| il / elle / on | repèrerait / repérerait | he / she / it would spoton: we would spot / one would spot | |
| nous | repèrerions / repérerions | we would spot | |
| vous | repèreriez / repéreriez | you would spot | |
| ils / elles | repèreraient / repéreraient | they would spot |
IN A SENTENCEConditional example
Paul repèrerait un oiseau rare dans l'arbre.
Paul would spot a rare bird in the tree.
Present subjunctive Subjonctif présent
Dependent clauses expressing wishes, necessity, doubt, and certain feelings.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | repère | (that) I spot | |
| tu | repères | (that) you spot | |
| il / elle / on | repère | (that) he / she / it spotson: (that) we spot / one spots | |
| nous | repérions | (that) we spot | |
| vous | repériez | (that) you spot | |
| ils / elles | repèrent | (that) they spot |
IN A SENTENCEPresent subjunctive example
Il est possible que Paul repère un oiseau rare dans l'arbre.
It is possible that Paul spots a rare bird in the tree.
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 map out, to mark, to reference
- to spot, to detect, to pick out
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