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 resist.”
Present Présent
Habits, current states, and actions happening now.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | résiste | I resist | |
| tu | résistes | you resist | |
| il / elle / on | résiste | he / she / it resistson: we resist / one resists | |
| nous | résistons | we resist | |
| vous | résistez | you resist | |
| ils / elles | résistent | they resist |
IN A SENTENCEPresent example
Ce tissu résiste à la chaleur.
This fabric resists heat.
Passé composé
Completed past events, using avoir or être plus a past participle.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | ai résisté | I resisted | |
| tu | as résisté | you resisted | |
| il / elle / on | a résisté | he / she / it resistedon: we resisted / one resisted | |
| nous | avons résisté | we resisted | |
| vous | avez résisté | you resisted | |
| ils / elles | ont résisté | they resisted |
IN A SENTENCEPassé composé example
Hier, ce tissu a résisté à la chaleur.
Yesterday, this fabric resisted heat.
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’ | résistais | I used to resist | |
| tu | résistais | you used to resist | |
| il / elle / on | résistait | he / she / it used to resiston: we used to resist / one used to resist | |
| nous | résistions | we used to resist | |
| vous | résistiez | you used to resist | |
| ils / elles | résistaient | they used to resist |
IN A SENTENCEImperfect example
Autrefois, ce tissu résistait à la chaleur.
Back then, this fabric used to resist heat.
Future Futur simple
Future events and predictions.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | résisterai | I will resist | |
| tu | résisteras | you will resist | |
| il / elle / on | résistera | he / she / it will resiston: we will resist / one will resist | |
| nous | résisterons | we will resist | |
| vous | résisterez | you will resist | |
| ils / elles | résisteront | they will resist |
IN A SENTENCEFuture example
Plus tard, ce tissu résistera à la chaleur.
Later, this fabric will resist heat.
Conditional Conditionnel présent
Hypothetical events and polite requests.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | résisterais | I would resist | |
| tu | résisterais | you would resist | |
| il / elle / on | résisterait | he / she / it would resiston: we would resist / one would resist | |
| nous | résisterions | we would resist | |
| vous | résisteriez | you would resist | |
| ils / elles | résisteraient | they would resist |
IN A SENTENCEConditional example
Ce tissu résisterait à la chaleur.
This fabric would resist heat.
Present subjunctive Subjonctif présent
Dependent clauses expressing wishes, necessity, doubt, and certain feelings.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | résiste | (that) I resist | |
| tu | résistes | (that) you resist | |
| il / elle / on | résiste | (that) he / she / it resistson: (that) we resist / one resists | |
| nous | résistions | (that) we resist | |
| vous | résistiez | (that) you resist | |
| ils / elles | résistent | (that) they resist |
IN A SENTENCEPresent subjunctive example
Il est possible que ce tissu résiste à la chaleur.
It is possible that this fabric resists heat.
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 resist
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