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 mean.”
Present Présent
Habits, current states, and actions happening now.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | signifie | I mean | |
| tu | signifies | you mean | |
| il / elle / on | signifie | he / she / it meanson: we mean / one means | |
| nous | signifions | we mean | |
| vous | signifiez | you mean | |
| ils / elles | signifient | they mean |
IN A SENTENCEPresent example
Ce geste signifie beaucoup pour Paul.
This gesture means a lot to Paul.
Passé composé
Completed past events, using avoir or être plus a past participle.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | ai signifié | I meant | |
| tu | as signifié | you meant | |
| il / elle / on | a signifié | he / she / it meanton: we meant / one meant | |
| nous | avons signifié | we meant | |
| vous | avez signifié | you meant | |
| ils / elles | ont signifié | they meant |
IN A SENTENCEPassé composé example
Hier, ce geste a signifié beaucoup pour Paul.
Yesterday, this gesture meant a lot to Paul.
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’ | signifiais | I used to mean | |
| tu | signifiais | you used to mean | |
| il / elle / on | signifiait | he / she / it used to meanon: we used to mean / one used to mean | |
| nous | signifiions | we used to mean | |
| vous | signifiiez | you used to mean | |
| ils / elles | signifiaient | they used to mean |
IN A SENTENCEImperfect example
Autrefois, ce geste signifiait beaucoup pour Paul.
Back then, this gesture used to mean a lot to Paul.
Future Futur simple
Future events and predictions.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | signifierai | I will mean | |
| tu | signifieras | you will mean | |
| il / elle / on | signifiera | he / she / it will meanon: we will mean / one will mean | |
| nous | signifierons | we will mean | |
| vous | signifierez | you will mean | |
| ils / elles | signifieront | they will mean |
IN A SENTENCEFuture example
Plus tard, ce geste signifiera beaucoup pour Paul.
Later, this gesture will mean a lot to Paul.
Conditional Conditionnel présent
Hypothetical events and polite requests.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | signifierais | I would mean | |
| tu | signifierais | you would mean | |
| il / elle / on | signifierait | he / she / it would meanon: we would mean / one would mean | |
| nous | signifierions | we would mean | |
| vous | signifieriez | you would mean | |
| ils / elles | signifieraient | they would mean |
IN A SENTENCEConditional example
Ce geste signifierait beaucoup pour Paul.
This gesture would mean a lot to Paul.
Present subjunctive Subjonctif présent
Dependent clauses expressing wishes, necessity, doubt, and certain feelings.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | signifie | (that) I mean | |
| tu | signifies | (that) you mean | |
| il / elle / on | signifie | (that) he / she / it meanson: (that) we mean / one means | |
| nous | signifiions | (that) we mean | |
| vous | signifiiez | (that) you mean | |
| ils / elles | signifient | (that) they mean |
IN A SENTENCEPresent subjunctive example
Il est possible que ce geste signifie beaucoup pour Paul.
It is possible that this gesture means a lot to Paul.
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 signify, mean
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