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 seem.”
Present Présent
Habits, current states, and actions happening now.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | semble | I seem | |
| tu | sembles | you seem | |
| il / elle / on | semble | he / she / it seemson: we seem / one seems | |
| nous | semblons | we seem | |
| vous | semblez | you seem | |
| ils / elles | semblent | they seem |
IN A SENTENCEPresent example
Paul semble satisfait du résultat.
Paul seems satisfied with the result.
Passé composé
Completed past events, using avoir or être plus a past participle.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | ai semblé | I seemed | |
| tu | as semblé | you seemed | |
| il / elle / on | a semblé | he / she / it seemedon: we seemed / one seemed | |
| nous | avons semblé | we seemed | |
| vous | avez semblé | you seemed | |
| ils / elles | ont semblé | they seemed |
IN A SENTENCEPassé composé example
Hier, Paul a semblé satisfait du résultat.
Yesterday, Paul seemed satisfied with the result.
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’ | semblais | I used to seem | |
| tu | semblais | you used to seem | |
| il / elle / on | semblait | he / she / it used to seemon: we used to seem / one used to seem | |
| nous | semblions | we used to seem | |
| vous | sembliez | you used to seem | |
| ils / elles | semblaient | they used to seem |
IN A SENTENCEImperfect example
Autrefois, Paul semblait satisfait du résultat.
Back then, Paul used to seem satisfied with the result.
Future Futur simple
Future events and predictions.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | semblerai | I will seem | |
| tu | sembleras | you will seem | |
| il / elle / on | semblera | he / she / it will seemon: we will seem / one will seem | |
| nous | semblerons | we will seem | |
| vous | semblerez | you will seem | |
| ils / elles | sembleront | they will seem |
IN A SENTENCEFuture example
Plus tard, Paul semblera satisfait du résultat.
Later, Paul will seem satisfied with the result.
Conditional Conditionnel présent
Hypothetical events and polite requests.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | semblerais | I would seem | |
| tu | semblerais | you would seem | |
| il / elle / on | semblerait | he / she / it would seemon: we would seem / one would seem | |
| nous | semblerions | we would seem | |
| vous | sembleriez | you would seem | |
| ils / elles | sembleraient | they would seem |
IN A SENTENCEConditional example
Paul semblerait satisfait du résultat.
Paul would seem satisfied with the result.
Present subjunctive Subjonctif présent
Dependent clauses expressing wishes, necessity, doubt, and certain feelings.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | semble | (that) I seem | |
| tu | sembles | (that) you seem | |
| il / elle / on | semble | (that) he / she / it seemson: (that) we seem / one seems | |
| nous | semblions | (that) we seem | |
| vous | sembliez | (that) you seem | |
| ils / elles | semblent | (that) they seem |
IN A SENTENCEPresent subjunctive example
Il est possible que Paul semble satisfait du résultat.
It is possible that Paul seems satisfied with the result.
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 seem, to resemble, to look like
- to appear, to seem, to look
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