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 risk.”
Present Présent
Habits, current states, and actions happening now.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | risque | I risk | |
| tu | risques | you risk | |
| il / elle / on | risque | he / she / it riskson: we risk / one risks | |
| nous | risquons | we risk | |
| vous | risquez | you risk | |
| ils / elles | risquent | they risk |
IN A SENTENCEPresent example
Paul risque de manquer le train.
Paul risks missing the train.
Passé composé
Completed past events, using avoir or être plus a past participle.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | ai risqué | I risked | |
| tu | as risqué | you risked | |
| il / elle / on | a risqué | he / she / it riskedon: we risked / one risked | |
| nous | avons risqué | we risked | |
| vous | avez risqué | you risked | |
| ils / elles | ont risqué | they risked |
IN A SENTENCEPassé composé example
Hier, Paul a risqué de manquer le train.
Yesterday, Paul risked missing the train.
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’ | risquais | I used to risk | |
| tu | risquais | you used to risk | |
| il / elle / on | risquait | he / she / it used to riskon: we used to risk / one used to risk | |
| nous | risquions | we used to risk | |
| vous | risquiez | you used to risk | |
| ils / elles | risquaient | they used to risk |
IN A SENTENCEImperfect example
Autrefois, Paul risquait de manquer le train.
Back then, Paul used to risk missing the train.
Future Futur simple
Future events and predictions.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | risquerai | I will risk | |
| tu | risqueras | you will risk | |
| il / elle / on | risquera | he / she / it will riskon: we will risk / one will risk | |
| nous | risquerons | we will risk | |
| vous | risquerez | you will risk | |
| ils / elles | risqueront | they will risk |
IN A SENTENCEFuture example
Plus tard, Paul risquera de manquer le train.
Later, Paul will risk missing the train.
Conditional Conditionnel présent
Hypothetical events and polite requests.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | risquerais | I would risk | |
| tu | risquerais | you would risk | |
| il / elle / on | risquerait | he / she / it would riskon: we would risk / one would risk | |
| nous | risquerions | we would risk | |
| vous | risqueriez | you would risk | |
| ils / elles | risqueraient | they would risk |
IN A SENTENCEConditional example
Paul risquerait de manquer le train.
Paul would risk missing the train.
Present subjunctive Subjonctif présent
Dependent clauses expressing wishes, necessity, doubt, and certain feelings.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | risque | (that) I risk | |
| tu | risques | (that) you risk | |
| il / elle / on | risque | (that) he / she / it riskson: (that) we risk / one risks | |
| nous | risquions | (that) we risk | |
| vous | risquiez | (that) you risk | |
| ils / elles | risquent | (that) they risk |
IN A SENTENCEPresent subjunctive example
Il est possible que Paul risque de manquer le train.
It is possible that Paul risks missing the train.
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 risk, to put at risk
- to face, to incur
- to run the risk of; to be likely to
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