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 rivet.”
Present Présent
Habits, current states, and actions happening now.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | rive | I rivet | |
| tu | rives | you rivet | |
| il / elle / on | rive | he / she / it rivetson: we rivet / one rivets | |
| nous | rivons | we rivet | |
| vous | rivez | you rivet | |
| ils / elles | rivent | they rivet |
IN A SENTENCEPresent example
Paul rive les deux plaques de métal.
Paul rivets the two metal plates together.
Passé composé
Completed past events, using avoir or être plus a past participle.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | ai rivé | I riveted | |
| tu | as rivé | you riveted | |
| il / elle / on | a rivé | he / she / it rivetedon: we riveted / one riveted | |
| nous | avons rivé | we riveted | |
| vous | avez rivé | you riveted | |
| ils / elles | ont rivé | they riveted |
IN A SENTENCEPassé composé example
Hier, Paul a rivé les deux plaques de métal.
Yesterday, Paul riveted the two metal plates together.
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’ | rivais | I used to rivet | |
| tu | rivais | you used to rivet | |
| il / elle / on | rivait | he / she / it used to riveton: we used to rivet / one used to rivet | |
| nous | rivions | we used to rivet | |
| vous | riviez | you used to rivet | |
| ils / elles | rivaient | they used to rivet |
IN A SENTENCEImperfect example
Autrefois, Paul rivait les deux plaques de métal.
Back then, Paul used to rivet the two metal plates together.
Future Futur simple
Future events and predictions.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | riverai | I will rivet | |
| tu | riveras | you will rivet | |
| il / elle / on | rivera | he / she / it will riveton: we will rivet / one will rivet | |
| nous | riverons | we will rivet | |
| vous | riverez | you will rivet | |
| ils / elles | riveront | they will rivet |
IN A SENTENCEFuture example
Plus tard, Paul rivera les deux plaques de métal.
Later, Paul will rivet the two metal plates together.
Conditional Conditionnel présent
Hypothetical events and polite requests.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | riverais | I would rivet | |
| tu | riverais | you would rivet | |
| il / elle / on | riverait | he / she / it would riveton: we would rivet / one would rivet | |
| nous | riverions | we would rivet | |
| vous | riveriez | you would rivet | |
| ils / elles | riveraient | they would rivet |
IN A SENTENCEConditional example
Paul riverait les deux plaques de métal.
Paul would rivet the two metal plates together.
Present subjunctive Subjonctif présent
Dependent clauses expressing wishes, necessity, doubt, and certain feelings.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | rive | (that) I rivet | |
| tu | rives | (that) you rivet | |
| il / elle / on | rive | (that) he / she / it rivetson: (that) we rivet / one rivets | |
| nous | rivions | (that) we rivet | |
| vous | riviez | (that) you rivet | |
| ils / elles | rivent | (that) they rivet |
IN A SENTENCEPresent subjunctive example
Il est possible que Paul rive les deux plaques de métal.
It is possible that Paul rivets the two metal plates together.
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.”
The example uses river for joining metal with rivets.
Meaning & usage
- to drive/set a rivet
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