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 tighten.”
Present Présent
Habits, current states, and actions happening now.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | serre | I tighten | |
| tu | serres | you tighten | |
| il / elle / on | serre | he / she / it tightenson: we tighten / one tightens | |
| nous | serrons | we tighten | |
| vous | serrez | you tighten | |
| ils / elles | serrent | they tighten |
IN A SENTENCEPresent example
Paul serre la vis avec un tournevis.
Paul tightens the screw with a screwdriver.
Passé composé
Completed past events, using avoir or être plus a past participle.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | ai serré | I tightened | |
| tu | as serré | you tightened | |
| il / elle / on | a serré | he / she / it tightenedon: we tightened / one tightened | |
| nous | avons serré | we tightened | |
| vous | avez serré | you tightened | |
| ils / elles | ont serré | they tightened |
IN A SENTENCEPassé composé example
Hier, Paul a serré la vis avec un tournevis.
Yesterday, Paul tightened the screw with a screwdriver.
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’ | serrais | I used to tighten | |
| tu | serrais | you used to tighten | |
| il / elle / on | serrait | he / she / it used to tightenon: we used to tighten / one used to tighten | |
| nous | serrions | we used to tighten | |
| vous | serriez | you used to tighten | |
| ils / elles | serraient | they used to tighten |
IN A SENTENCEImperfect example
Autrefois, Paul serrait la vis avec un tournevis.
Back then, Paul used to tighten the screw with a screwdriver.
Future Futur simple
Future events and predictions.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | serrerai | I will tighten | |
| tu | serreras | you will tighten | |
| il / elle / on | serrera | he / she / it will tightenon: we will tighten / one will tighten | |
| nous | serrerons | we will tighten | |
| vous | serrerez | you will tighten | |
| ils / elles | serreront | they will tighten |
IN A SENTENCEFuture example
Plus tard, Paul serrera la vis avec un tournevis.
Later, Paul will tighten the screw with a screwdriver.
Conditional Conditionnel présent
Hypothetical events and polite requests.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | serrerais | I would tighten | |
| tu | serrerais | you would tighten | |
| il / elle / on | serrerait | he / she / it would tightenon: we would tighten / one would tighten | |
| nous | serrerions | we would tighten | |
| vous | serreriez | you would tighten | |
| ils / elles | serreraient | they would tighten |
IN A SENTENCEConditional example
Paul serrerait la vis avec un tournevis.
Paul would tighten the screw with a screwdriver.
Present subjunctive Subjonctif présent
Dependent clauses expressing wishes, necessity, doubt, and certain feelings.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | serre | (that) I tighten | |
| tu | serres | (that) you tighten | |
| il / elle / on | serre | (that) he / she / it tightenson: (that) we tighten / one tightens | |
| nous | serrions | (that) we tighten | |
| vous | serriez | (that) you tighten | |
| ils / elles | serrent | (that) they tighten |
IN A SENTENCEPresent subjunctive example
Il est possible que Paul serre la vis avec un tournevis.
It is possible that Paul tightens the screw with a screwdriver.
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 tighten (a screw, a knot)
- to shake (hands)
- to squeeze
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