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 sow.”
Present Présent
Habits, current states, and actions happening now.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | sème | I sow | |
| tu | sèmes | you sow | |
| il / elle / on | sème | he / she / it sowson: we sow / one sows | |
| nous | semons | we sow | |
| vous | semez | you sow | |
| ils / elles | sèment | they sow |
IN A SENTENCEPresent example
Paul sème des graines de carotte.
Paul sows carrot seeds.
Passé composé
Completed past events, using avoir or être plus a past participle.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | ai semé | I sowed | |
| tu | as semé | you sowed | |
| il / elle / on | a semé | he / she / it sowedon: we sowed / one sowed | |
| nous | avons semé | we sowed | |
| vous | avez semé | you sowed | |
| ils / elles | ont semé | they sowed |
IN A SENTENCEPassé composé example
Hier, Paul a semé des graines de carotte.
Yesterday, Paul sowed carrot seeds.
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’ | semais | I used to sow | |
| tu | semais | you used to sow | |
| il / elle / on | semait | he / she / it used to sowon: we used to sow / one used to sow | |
| nous | semions | we used to sow | |
| vous | semiez | you used to sow | |
| ils / elles | semaient | they used to sow |
IN A SENTENCEImperfect example
Autrefois, Paul semait des graines de carotte.
Back then, Paul used to sow carrot seeds.
Future Futur simple
Future events and predictions.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | sèmerai | I will sow | |
| tu | sèmeras | you will sow | |
| il / elle / on | sèmera | he / she / it will sowon: we will sow / one will sow | |
| nous | sèmerons | we will sow | |
| vous | sèmerez | you will sow | |
| ils / elles | sèmeront | they will sow |
IN A SENTENCEFuture example
Plus tard, Paul sèmera des graines de carotte.
Later, Paul will sow carrot seeds.
Conditional Conditionnel présent
Hypothetical events and polite requests.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | sèmerais | I would sow | |
| tu | sèmerais | you would sow | |
| il / elle / on | sèmerait | he / she / it would sowon: we would sow / one would sow | |
| nous | sèmerions | we would sow | |
| vous | sèmeriez | you would sow | |
| ils / elles | sèmeraient | they would sow |
IN A SENTENCEConditional example
Paul sèmerait des graines de carotte.
Paul would sow carrot seeds.
Present subjunctive Subjonctif présent
Dependent clauses expressing wishes, necessity, doubt, and certain feelings.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | sème | (that) I sow | |
| tu | sèmes | (that) you sow | |
| il / elle / on | sème | (that) he / she / it sowson: (that) we sow / one sows | |
| nous | semions | (that) we sow | |
| vous | semiez | (that) you sow | |
| ils / elles | sèment | (that) they sow |
IN A SENTENCEPresent subjunctive example
Il est possible que Paul sème des graines de carotte.
It is possible that Paul sows carrot seeds.
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 sow (scatter seed, etc.)
- to shake off, to lose (a pursuer)
- to spread, to sow
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