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 sit.”
Present Présent
Habits, current states, and actions happening now.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | siège | I sit | |
| tu | sièges | you sit | |
| il / elle / on | siège | he / she / it sitson: we sit / one sits | |
| nous | siégeons | we sit | |
| vous | siégez | you sit | |
| ils / elles | siègent | they sit |
IN A SENTENCEPresent example
Paul siège au conseil municipal.
Paul sits on the town council.
Passé composé
Completed past events, using avoir or être plus a past participle.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | ai siégé | I sat | |
| tu | as siégé | you sat | |
| il / elle / on | a siégé | he / she / it saton: we sat / one sat | |
| nous | avons siégé | we sat | |
| vous | avez siégé | you sat | |
| ils / elles | ont siégé | they sat |
IN A SENTENCEPassé composé example
Hier, Paul a siégé au conseil municipal.
Yesterday, Paul sat on the town council.
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’ | siégeais | I used to sit | |
| tu | siégeais | you used to sit | |
| il / elle / on | siégeait | he / she / it used to siton: we used to sit / one used to sit | |
| nous | siégions | we used to sit | |
| vous | siégiez | you used to sit | |
| ils / elles | siégeaient | they used to sit |
IN A SENTENCEImperfect example
Autrefois, Paul siégeait au conseil municipal.
Back then, Paul used to sit on the town council.
Future Futur simple
Future events and predictions.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | siégerai / siègerai | I will sit | |
| tu | siégeras / siègeras | you will sit | |
| il / elle / on | siégera / siègera | he / she / it will siton: we will sit / one will sit | |
| nous | siégerons / siègerons | we will sit | |
| vous | siégerez / siègerez | you will sit | |
| ils / elles | siégeront / siègeront | they will sit |
IN A SENTENCEFuture example
Plus tard, Paul siégera au conseil municipal.
Later, Paul will sit on the town council.
Conditional Conditionnel présent
Hypothetical events and polite requests.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | siégerais / siègerais | I would sit | |
| tu | siégerais / siègerais | you would sit | |
| il / elle / on | siégerait / siègerait | he / she / it would siton: we would sit / one would sit | |
| nous | siégerions / siègerions | we would sit | |
| vous | siégeriez / siègeriez | you would sit | |
| ils / elles | siégeraient / siègeraient | they would sit |
IN A SENTENCEConditional example
Paul siégerait au conseil municipal.
Paul would sit on the town council.
Present subjunctive Subjonctif présent
Dependent clauses expressing wishes, necessity, doubt, and certain feelings.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | siège | (that) I sit | |
| tu | sièges | (that) you sit | |
| il / elle / on | siège | (that) he / she / it sitson: (that) we sit / one sits | |
| nous | siégions | (that) we sit | |
| vous | siégiez | (that) you sit | |
| ils / elles | siègent | (that) they sit |
IN A SENTENCEPresent subjunctive example
Il est possible que Paul siège au conseil municipal.
It is possible that Paul sits on the town council.
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 sit (hold a seat)
- to sit
- to be located; lie
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