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 go to bed.”
Present Présent
Habits, current states, and actions happening now.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | me couche | I go to bed | |
| tu | te couches | you go to bed | |
| il / elle / on | se couche | he / she / it goes to bedon: we go to bed / one goes to bed | |
| nous | nous couchons | we go to bed | |
| vous | vous couchez | you go to bed | |
| ils / elles | se couchent | they go to bed |
IN A SENTENCEPresent example
Paul se couche tôt.
Paul goes to bed early.
Passé composé
Completed past events, using avoir or être plus a past participle.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | me suis couché / me suis couchée | I went to bed | |
| tu | t'es couché / t'es couchée | you went to bed | |
| il / elle / on | s'est couché / s'est couchée | he / she / it went to bedon: we went to bed / one went to bed | |
| nous | nous sommes couchés / nous sommes couchées | we went to bed | |
| vous | vous êtes couché / vous êtes couchée / vous êtes couchés / vous êtes couchées | you went to bed | |
| ils / elles | se sont couchés / se sont couchées | they went to bed |
IN A SENTENCEPassé composé example
Hier, Paul s'est couché tôt.
Yesterday, Paul went to bed early.
This pronominal use includes the reflexive pronoun in each form. Its passé composé uses être, with subject agreement in the meaning shown. Vous may be formal singular or plural. Other pronominal constructions can have different agreement rules.
Back to tense navigation ↑Imperfect Imparfait
Past habits, descriptions, and actions in progress.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | me couchais | I used to go to bed | |
| tu | te couchais | you used to go to bed | |
| il / elle / on | se couchait | he / she / it used to go to bedon: we used to go to bed / one used to go to bed | |
| nous | nous couchions | we used to go to bed | |
| vous | vous couchiez | you used to go to bed | |
| ils / elles | se couchaient | they used to go to bed |
IN A SENTENCEImperfect example
Autrefois, Paul se couchait tôt.
Back then, Paul used to go to bed early.
Future Futur simple
Future events and predictions.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | me coucherai | I will go to bed | |
| tu | te coucheras | you will go to bed | |
| il / elle / on | se couchera | he / she / it will go to bedon: we will go to bed / one will go to bed | |
| nous | nous coucherons | we will go to bed | |
| vous | vous coucherez | you will go to bed | |
| ils / elles | se coucheront | they will go to bed |
IN A SENTENCEFuture example
Plus tard, Paul se couchera tôt.
Later, Paul will go to bed early.
Conditional Conditionnel présent
Hypothetical events and polite requests.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | me coucherais | I would go to bed | |
| tu | te coucherais | you would go to bed | |
| il / elle / on | se coucherait | he / she / it would go to bedon: we would go to bed / one would go to bed | |
| nous | nous coucherions | we would go to bed | |
| vous | vous coucheriez | you would go to bed | |
| ils / elles | se coucheraient | they would go to bed |
IN A SENTENCEConditional example
Paul se coucherait tôt.
Paul would go to bed early.
Present subjunctive Subjonctif présent
Dependent clauses expressing wishes, necessity, doubt, and certain feelings.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | me couche | (that) I go to bed | |
| tu | te couches | (that) you go to bed | |
| il / elle / on | se couche | (that) he / she / it goes to bedon: (that) we go to bed / one goes to bed | |
| nous | nous couchions | (that) we go to bed | |
| vous | vous couchiez | (that) you go to bed | |
| ils / elles | se couchent | (that) they go to bed |
IN A SENTENCEPresent subjunctive example
Il est possible que Paul se couche tôt.
It is possible that Paul goes to bed early.
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 go to bed; to lie down
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