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 sign.”
Present Présent
Habits, current states, and actions happening now.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | signe | I sign | |
| tu | signes | you sign | |
| il / elle / on | signe | he / she / it signson: we sign / one signs | |
| nous | signons | we sign | |
| vous | signez | you sign | |
| ils / elles | signent | they sign |
IN A SENTENCEPresent example
Paul signe la lettre.
Paul signs the letter.
Passé composé
Completed past events, using avoir or être plus a past participle.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | ai signé | I signed | |
| tu | as signé | you signed | |
| il / elle / on | a signé | he / she / it signedon: we signed / one signed | |
| nous | avons signé | we signed | |
| vous | avez signé | you signed | |
| ils / elles | ont signé | they signed |
IN A SENTENCEPassé composé example
Hier, Paul a signé la lettre.
Yesterday, Paul signed the letter.
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’ | signais | I used to sign | |
| tu | signais | you used to sign | |
| il / elle / on | signait | he / she / it used to signon: we used to sign / one used to sign | |
| nous | signions | we used to sign | |
| vous | signiez | you used to sign | |
| ils / elles | signaient | they used to sign |
IN A SENTENCEImperfect example
Autrefois, Paul signait la lettre.
Back then, Paul used to sign the letter.
Future Futur simple
Future events and predictions.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | signerai | I will sign | |
| tu | signeras | you will sign | |
| il / elle / on | signera | he / she / it will signon: we will sign / one will sign | |
| nous | signerons | we will sign | |
| vous | signerez | you will sign | |
| ils / elles | signeront | they will sign |
IN A SENTENCEFuture example
Plus tard, Paul signera la lettre.
Later, Paul will sign the letter.
Conditional Conditionnel présent
Hypothetical events and polite requests.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | signerais | I would sign | |
| tu | signerais | you would sign | |
| il / elle / on | signerait | he / she / it would signon: we would sign / one would sign | |
| nous | signerions | we would sign | |
| vous | signeriez | you would sign | |
| ils / elles | signeraient | they would sign |
IN A SENTENCEConditional example
Paul signerait la lettre.
Paul would sign the letter.
Present subjunctive Subjonctif présent
Dependent clauses expressing wishes, necessity, doubt, and certain feelings.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | signe | (that) I sign | |
| tu | signes | (that) you sign | |
| il / elle / on | signe | (that) he / she / it signson: (that) we sign / one signs | |
| nous | signions | (that) we sign | |
| vous | signiez | (that) you sign | |
| ils / elles | signent | (that) they sign |
IN A SENTENCEPresent subjunctive example
Il est possible que Paul signe la lettre.
It is possible that Paul signs the letter.
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 sign (put a signature on)
- to sign (communicate using sign language)
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