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 know.”
Present Présent
Habits, current states, and actions happening now.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | sais | I know | |
| tu | sais | you know | |
| il / elle / on | sait | he / she / it knowson: we know / one knows | |
| nous | savons | we know | |
| vous | savez | you know | |
| ils / elles | savent | they know |
IN A SENTENCEPresent example
Paul sait la réponse à cette question.
Paul knows the answer to this question.
Passé composé
Completed past events, using avoir or être plus a past participle.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | ai su | I knew | |
| tu | as su | you knew | |
| il / elle / on | a su | he / she / it knewon: we knew / one knew | |
| nous | avons su | we knew | |
| vous | avez su | you knew | |
| ils / elles | ont su | they knew |
IN A SENTENCEPassé composé example
Hier, Paul a su la réponse à cette question.
Yesterday, Paul knew the answer to this question.
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’ | savais | I knew | |
| tu | savais | you knew | |
| il / elle / on | savait | he / she / it knewon: we knew / one knew | |
| nous | savions | we knew | |
| vous | saviez | you knew | |
| ils / elles | savaient | they knew |
IN A SENTENCEImperfect example
Autrefois, Paul savait la réponse à cette question.
Back then, Paul knew the answer to this question.
Future Futur simple
Future events and predictions.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | saurai | I will know | |
| tu | sauras | you will know | |
| il / elle / on | saura | he / she / it will knowon: we will know / one will know | |
| nous | saurons | we will know | |
| vous | saurez | you will know | |
| ils / elles | sauront | they will know |
IN A SENTENCEFuture example
Plus tard, Paul saura la réponse à cette question.
Later, Paul will know the answer to this question.
Conditional Conditionnel présent
Hypothetical events and polite requests.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | saurais | I would know | |
| tu | saurais | you would know | |
| il / elle / on | saurait | he / she / it would knowon: we would know / one would know | |
| nous | saurions | we would know | |
| vous | sauriez | you would know | |
| ils / elles | sauraient | they would know |
IN A SENTENCEConditional example
Paul saurait la réponse à cette question.
Paul would know the answer to this question.
Present subjunctive Subjonctif présent
Dependent clauses expressing wishes, necessity, doubt, and certain feelings.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | sache | (that) I know | |
| tu | saches | (that) you know | |
| il / elle / on | sache | (that) he / she / it knowson: (that) we know / one knows | |
| nous | sachions | (that) we know | |
| vous | sachiez | (that) you know | |
| ils / elles | sachent | (that) they know |
IN A SENTENCEPresent subjunctive example
Il est possible que Paul sache la réponse à cette question.
It is possible that Paul knows the answer to this question.
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 know a fact; to know how
- to know (something)
- to know how (to do something)
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