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’ | retourne | I go back | |
| tu | retournes | you go back | |
| il / elle / on | retourne | he / she / it goes backon: we go back / one goes back | |
| nous | retournons | we go back | |
| vous | retournez | you go back | |
| ils / elles | retournent | they go back |
IN A SENTENCEPresent example
Paul retourne au village de son enfance.
Paul goes back to his childhood village.
Passé composé
Completed past events, using avoir or être plus a past participle.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | suis retourné / suis retournée | I went back | |
| tu | es retourné / es retournée | you went back | |
| il / elle / on | est retourné / est retournée | he / she / it went backon: we went back / one went back | |
| nous | sommes retournés / sommes retournées | we went back | |
| vous | êtes retourné / êtes retournée / êtes retournés / êtes retournées | you went back | |
| ils / elles | sont retournés / sont retournées | they went back |
IN A SENTENCEPassé composé example
Hier, Paul est retourné au village de son enfance.
Yesterday, Paul went back to his childhood village.
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’ | retournais | I used to go back | |
| tu | retournais | you used to go back | |
| il / elle / on | retournait | he / she / it used to go backon: we used to go back / one used to go back | |
| nous | retournions | we used to go back | |
| vous | retourniez | you used to go back | |
| ils / elles | retournaient | they used to go back |
IN A SENTENCEImperfect example
Autrefois, Paul retournait au village de son enfance.
Back then, Paul used to go back to his childhood village.
Future Futur simple
Future events and predictions.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | retournerai | I will go back | |
| tu | retourneras | you will go back | |
| il / elle / on | retournera | he / she / it will go backon: we will go back / one will go back | |
| nous | retournerons | we will go back | |
| vous | retournerez | you will go back | |
| ils / elles | retourneront | they will go back |
IN A SENTENCEFuture example
Plus tard, Paul retournera au village de son enfance.
Later, Paul will go back to his childhood village.
Conditional Conditionnel présent
Hypothetical events and polite requests.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | retournerais | I would go back | |
| tu | retournerais | you would go back | |
| il / elle / on | retournerait | he / she / it would go backon: we would go back / one would go back | |
| nous | retournerions | we would go back | |
| vous | retourneriez | you would go back | |
| ils / elles | retourneraient | they would go back |
IN A SENTENCEConditional example
Paul retournerait au village de son enfance.
Paul would go back to his childhood village.
Present subjunctive Subjonctif présent
Dependent clauses expressing wishes, necessity, doubt, and certain feelings.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | retourne | (that) I go back | |
| tu | retournes | (that) you go back | |
| il / elle / on | retourne | (that) he / she / it goes backon: (that) we go back / one goes back | |
| nous | retournions | (that) we go back | |
| vous | retourniez | (that) you go back | |
| ils / elles | retournent | (that) they go back |
IN A SENTENCEPresent subjunctive example
Il est possible que Paul retourne au village de son enfance.
It is possible that Paul goes back to his childhood village.
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 return; to go back (intransitive)
- to turn over; to turn upside-down
- to turn over; to flip
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