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 dream.”
Present Présent
Habits, current states, and actions happening now.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | rêve | I dream | |
| tu | rêves | you dream | |
| il / elle / on | rêve | he / she / it dreamson: we dream / one dreams | |
| nous | rêvons | we dream | |
| vous | rêvez | you dream | |
| ils / elles | rêvent | they dream |
IN A SENTENCEPresent example
Paul rêve d'un voyage en Italie.
Paul dreams of a trip to Italy.
Passé composé
Completed past events, using avoir or être plus a past participle.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | ai rêvé | I dreamed | |
| tu | as rêvé | you dreamed | |
| il / elle / on | a rêvé | he / she / it dreamedon: we dreamed / one dreamed | |
| nous | avons rêvé | we dreamed | |
| vous | avez rêvé | you dreamed | |
| ils / elles | ont rêvé | they dreamed |
IN A SENTENCEPassé composé example
Hier, Paul a rêvé d'un voyage en Italie.
Yesterday, Paul dreamed of a trip to Italy.
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’ | rêvais | I used to dream | |
| tu | rêvais | you used to dream | |
| il / elle / on | rêvait | he / she / it used to dreamon: we used to dream / one used to dream | |
| nous | rêvions | we used to dream | |
| vous | rêviez | you used to dream | |
| ils / elles | rêvaient | they used to dream |
IN A SENTENCEImperfect example
Autrefois, Paul rêvait d'un voyage en Italie.
Back then, Paul used to dream of a trip to Italy.
Future Futur simple
Future events and predictions.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | rêverai | I will dream | |
| tu | rêveras | you will dream | |
| il / elle / on | rêvera | he / she / it will dreamon: we will dream / one will dream | |
| nous | rêverons | we will dream | |
| vous | rêverez | you will dream | |
| ils / elles | rêveront | they will dream |
IN A SENTENCEFuture example
Plus tard, Paul rêvera d'un voyage en Italie.
Later, Paul will dream of a trip to Italy.
Conditional Conditionnel présent
Hypothetical events and polite requests.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | rêverais | I would dream | |
| tu | rêverais | you would dream | |
| il / elle / on | rêverait | he / she / it would dreamon: we would dream / one would dream | |
| nous | rêverions | we would dream | |
| vous | rêveriez | you would dream | |
| ils / elles | rêveraient | they would dream |
IN A SENTENCEConditional example
Paul rêverait d'un voyage en Italie.
Paul would dream of a trip to Italy.
Present subjunctive Subjonctif présent
Dependent clauses expressing wishes, necessity, doubt, and certain feelings.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | rêve | (that) I dream | |
| tu | rêves | (that) you dream | |
| il / elle / on | rêve | (that) he / she / it dreamson: (that) we dream / one dreams | |
| nous | rêvions | (that) we dream | |
| vous | rêviez | (that) you dream | |
| ils / elles | rêvent | (that) they dream |
IN A SENTENCEPresent subjunctive example
Il est possible que Paul rêve d'un voyage en Italie.
It is possible that Paul dreams of a trip to Italy.
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 dream
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