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 save.”
Present Présent
Habits, current states, and actions happening now.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | sauve | I save | |
| tu | sauves | you save | |
| il / elle / on | sauve | he / she / it saveson: we save / one saves | |
| nous | sauvons | we save | |
| vous | sauvez | you save | |
| ils / elles | sauvent | they save |
IN A SENTENCEPresent example
Paul sauve un chat coincé dans un arbre.
Paul saves a cat stuck in a tree.
Passé composé
Completed past events, using avoir or être plus a past participle.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | ai sauvé | I saved | |
| tu | as sauvé | you saved | |
| il / elle / on | a sauvé | he / she / it savedon: we saved / one saved | |
| nous | avons sauvé | we saved | |
| vous | avez sauvé | you saved | |
| ils / elles | ont sauvé | they saved |
IN A SENTENCEPassé composé example
Hier, Paul a sauvé un chat coincé dans un arbre.
Yesterday, Paul saved a cat stuck in a tree.
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’ | sauvais | I used to save | |
| tu | sauvais | you used to save | |
| il / elle / on | sauvait | he / she / it used to saveon: we used to save / one used to save | |
| nous | sauvions | we used to save | |
| vous | sauviez | you used to save | |
| ils / elles | sauvaient | they used to save |
IN A SENTENCEImperfect example
Autrefois, Paul sauvait un chat coincé dans un arbre.
Back then, Paul used to save a cat stuck in a tree.
Future Futur simple
Future events and predictions.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | sauverai | I will save | |
| tu | sauveras | you will save | |
| il / elle / on | sauvera | he / she / it will saveon: we will save / one will save | |
| nous | sauverons | we will save | |
| vous | sauverez | you will save | |
| ils / elles | sauveront | they will save |
IN A SENTENCEFuture example
Plus tard, Paul sauvera un chat coincé dans un arbre.
Later, Paul will save a cat stuck in a tree.
Conditional Conditionnel présent
Hypothetical events and polite requests.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | sauverais | I would save | |
| tu | sauverais | you would save | |
| il / elle / on | sauverait | he / she / it would saveon: we would save / one would save | |
| nous | sauverions | we would save | |
| vous | sauveriez | you would save | |
| ils / elles | sauveraient | they would save |
IN A SENTENCEConditional example
Paul sauverait un chat coincé dans un arbre.
Paul would save a cat stuck in a tree.
Present subjunctive Subjonctif présent
Dependent clauses expressing wishes, necessity, doubt, and certain feelings.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | sauve | (that) I save | |
| tu | sauves | (that) you save | |
| il / elle / on | sauve | (that) he / she / it saveson: (that) we save / one saves | |
| nous | sauvions | (that) we save | |
| vous | sauviez | (that) you save | |
| ils / elles | sauvent | (that) they save |
IN A SENTENCEPresent subjunctive example
Il est possible que Paul sauve un chat coincé dans un arbre.
It is possible that Paul saves a cat stuck in a tree.
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 save, rescue; to protect
- to save
- to save (conserve, prevent the wasting of)
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