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 take back.”
Present Présent
Habits, current states, and actions happening now.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | reprends | I take back | |
| tu | reprends | you take back | |
| il / elle / on | reprend | he / she / it takes backon: we take back / one takes back | |
| nous | reprenons | we take back | |
| vous | reprenez | you take back | |
| ils / elles | reprennent | they take back |
IN A SENTENCEPresent example
Paul reprend son sac.
Paul takes back his bag.
Passé composé
Completed past events, using avoir or être plus a past participle.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | ai repris | I took back | |
| tu | as repris | you took back | |
| il / elle / on | a repris | he / she / it took backon: we took back / one took back | |
| nous | avons repris | we took back | |
| vous | avez repris | you took back | |
| ils / elles | ont repris | they took back |
IN A SENTENCEPassé composé example
Hier, Paul a repris son sac.
Yesterday, Paul took back his bag.
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’ | reprenais | I used to take back | |
| tu | reprenais | you used to take back | |
| il / elle / on | reprenait | he / she / it used to take backon: we used to take back / one used to take back | |
| nous | reprenions | we used to take back | |
| vous | repreniez | you used to take back | |
| ils / elles | reprenaient | they used to take back |
IN A SENTENCEImperfect example
Autrefois, Paul reprenait son sac.
Back then, Paul used to take back his bag.
Future Futur simple
Future events and predictions.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | reprendrai | I will take back | |
| tu | reprendras | you will take back | |
| il / elle / on | reprendra | he / she / it will take backon: we will take back / one will take back | |
| nous | reprendrons | we will take back | |
| vous | reprendrez | you will take back | |
| ils / elles | reprendront | they will take back |
IN A SENTENCEFuture example
Plus tard, Paul reprendra son sac.
Later, Paul will take back his bag.
Conditional Conditionnel présent
Hypothetical events and polite requests.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | reprendrais | I would take back | |
| tu | reprendrais | you would take back | |
| il / elle / on | reprendrait | he / she / it would take backon: we would take back / one would take back | |
| nous | reprendrions | we would take back | |
| vous | reprendriez | you would take back | |
| ils / elles | reprendraient | they would take back |
IN A SENTENCEConditional example
Paul reprendrait son sac.
Paul would take back his bag.
Present subjunctive Subjonctif présent
Dependent clauses expressing wishes, necessity, doubt, and certain feelings.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | reprenne | (that) I take back | |
| tu | reprennes | (that) you take back | |
| il / elle / on | reprenne | (that) he / she / it takes backon: (that) we take back / one takes back | |
| nous | reprenions | (that) we take back | |
| vous | repreniez | (that) you take back | |
| ils / elles | reprennent | (that) they take back |
IN A SENTENCEPresent subjunctive example
Il est possible que Paul reprenne son sac.
It is possible that Paul takes back his bag.
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 take back, recover, regain
- to take again, take more of, have another helping
- to resume (work), get back to, carry on with
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