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 fall back down.”
Present Présent
Habits, current states, and actions happening now.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | retombe | I fall back down | |
| tu | retombes | you fall back down | |
| il / elle / on | retombe | he / she / it falls back downon: we fall back down / one falls back down | |
| nous | retombons | we fall back down | |
| vous | retombez | you fall back down | |
| ils / elles | retombent | they fall back down |
IN A SENTENCEPresent example
Le ballon retombe sur le terrain.
The ball falls back down onto the field.
Passé composé
Completed past events, using avoir or être plus a past participle.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | suis retombé / suis retombée | I fell back down | |
| tu | es retombé / es retombée | you fell back down | |
| il / elle / on | est retombé / est retombée | he / she / it fell back downon: we fell back down / one fell back down | |
| nous | sommes retombés / sommes retombées | we fell back down | |
| vous | êtes retombé / êtes retombée / êtes retombés / êtes retombées | you fell back down | |
| ils / elles | sont retombés / sont retombées | they fell back down |
IN A SENTENCEPassé composé example
Hier, le ballon est retombé sur le terrain.
Yesterday, the ball fell back down onto the field.
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’ | retombais | I used to fall back down | |
| tu | retombais | you used to fall back down | |
| il / elle / on | retombait | he / she / it used to fall back downon: we used to fall back down / one used to fall back down | |
| nous | retombions | we used to fall back down | |
| vous | retombiez | you used to fall back down | |
| ils / elles | retombaient | they used to fall back down |
IN A SENTENCEImperfect example
Autrefois, le ballon retombait sur le terrain.
Back then, the ball used to fall back down onto the field.
Future Futur simple
Future events and predictions.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | retomberai | I will fall back down | |
| tu | retomberas | you will fall back down | |
| il / elle / on | retombera | he / she / it will fall back downon: we will fall back down / one will fall back down | |
| nous | retomberons | we will fall back down | |
| vous | retomberez | you will fall back down | |
| ils / elles | retomberont | they will fall back down |
IN A SENTENCEFuture example
Plus tard, le ballon retombera sur le terrain.
Later, the ball will fall back down onto the field.
Conditional Conditionnel présent
Hypothetical events and polite requests.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | retomberais | I would fall back down | |
| tu | retomberais | you would fall back down | |
| il / elle / on | retomberait | he / she / it would fall back downon: we would fall back down / one would fall back down | |
| nous | retomberions | we would fall back down | |
| vous | retomberiez | you would fall back down | |
| ils / elles | retomberaient | they would fall back down |
IN A SENTENCEConditional example
Le ballon retomberait sur le terrain.
The ball would fall back down onto the field.
Present subjunctive Subjonctif présent
Dependent clauses expressing wishes, necessity, doubt, and certain feelings.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | retombe | (that) I fall back down | |
| tu | retombes | (that) you fall back down | |
| il / elle / on | retombe | (that) he / she / it falls back downon: (that) we fall back down / one falls back down | |
| nous | retombions | (that) we fall back down | |
| vous | retombiez | (that) you fall back down | |
| ils / elles | retombent | (that) they fall back down |
IN A SENTENCEPresent subjunctive example
Il est possible que le ballon retombe sur le terrain.
It is possible that the ball falls back down onto the field.
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 refall, to fall again, to fall back down
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