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 separate.”
Present Présent
Habits, current states, and actions happening now.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | sépare | I separate | |
| tu | sépares | you separate | |
| il / elle / on | sépare | he / she / it separateson: we separate / one separates | |
| nous | séparons | we separate | |
| vous | séparez | you separate | |
| ils / elles | séparent | they separate |
IN A SENTENCEPresent example
Paul sépare les vêtements blancs des vêtements colorés.
Paul separates the white clothes from the colored clothes.
Passé composé
Completed past events, using avoir or être plus a past participle.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | ai séparé | I separated | |
| tu | as séparé | you separated | |
| il / elle / on | a séparé | he / she / it separatedon: we separated / one separated | |
| nous | avons séparé | we separated | |
| vous | avez séparé | you separated | |
| ils / elles | ont séparé | they separated |
IN A SENTENCEPassé composé example
Hier, Paul a séparé les vêtements blancs des vêtements colorés.
Yesterday, Paul separated the white clothes from the colored clothes.
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’ | séparais | I used to separate | |
| tu | séparais | you used to separate | |
| il / elle / on | séparait | he / she / it used to separateon: we used to separate / one used to separate | |
| nous | séparions | we used to separate | |
| vous | sépariez | you used to separate | |
| ils / elles | séparaient | they used to separate |
IN A SENTENCEImperfect example
Autrefois, Paul séparait les vêtements blancs des vêtements colorés.
Back then, Paul used to separate the white clothes from the colored clothes.
Future Futur simple
Future events and predictions.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | séparerai | I will separate | |
| tu | sépareras | you will separate | |
| il / elle / on | séparera | he / she / it will separateon: we will separate / one will separate | |
| nous | séparerons | we will separate | |
| vous | séparerez | you will separate | |
| ils / elles | sépareront | they will separate |
IN A SENTENCEFuture example
Plus tard, Paul séparera les vêtements blancs des vêtements colorés.
Later, Paul will separate the white clothes from the colored clothes.
Conditional Conditionnel présent
Hypothetical events and polite requests.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | séparerais | I would separate | |
| tu | séparerais | you would separate | |
| il / elle / on | séparerait | he / she / it would separateon: we would separate / one would separate | |
| nous | séparerions | we would separate | |
| vous | sépareriez | you would separate | |
| ils / elles | sépareraient | they would separate |
IN A SENTENCEConditional example
Paul séparerait les vêtements blancs des vêtements colorés.
Paul would separate the white clothes from the colored clothes.
Present subjunctive Subjonctif présent
Dependent clauses expressing wishes, necessity, doubt, and certain feelings.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | sépare | (that) I separate | |
| tu | sépares | (that) you separate | |
| il / elle / on | sépare | (that) he / she / it separateson: (that) we separate / one separates | |
| nous | séparions | (that) we separate | |
| vous | sépariez | (that) you separate | |
| ils / elles | séparent | (that) they separate |
IN A SENTENCEPresent subjunctive example
Il est possible que Paul sépare les vêtements blancs des vêtements colorés.
It is possible that Paul separates the white clothes from the colored clothes.
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 separate
- to split up, to cause to come apart
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