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 ring.”
Present Présent
Habits, current states, and actions happening now.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | sonne | I ring | |
| tu | sonnes | you ring | |
| il / elle / on | sonne | he / she / it ringson: we ring / one rings | |
| nous | sonnons | we ring | |
| vous | sonnez | you ring | |
| ils / elles | sonnent | they ring |
IN A SENTENCEPresent example
Le réveil sonne à sept heures.
The alarm clock rings at seven o'clock.
Passé composé
Completed past events, using avoir or être plus a past participle.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | ai sonné | I rang | |
| tu | as sonné | you rang | |
| il / elle / on | a sonné | he / she / it rangon: we rang / one rang | |
| nous | avons sonné | we rang | |
| vous | avez sonné | you rang | |
| ils / elles | ont sonné | they rang |
IN A SENTENCEPassé composé example
Hier, le réveil a sonné à sept heures.
Yesterday, the alarm clock rang at seven o'clock.
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’ | sonnais | I used to ring | |
| tu | sonnais | you used to ring | |
| il / elle / on | sonnait | he / she / it used to ringon: we used to ring / one used to ring | |
| nous | sonnions | we used to ring | |
| vous | sonniez | you used to ring | |
| ils / elles | sonnaient | they used to ring |
IN A SENTENCEImperfect example
Autrefois, le réveil sonnait à sept heures.
Back then, the alarm clock used to ring at seven o'clock.
Future Futur simple
Future events and predictions.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | sonnerai | I will ring | |
| tu | sonneras | you will ring | |
| il / elle / on | sonnera | he / she / it will ringon: we will ring / one will ring | |
| nous | sonnerons | we will ring | |
| vous | sonnerez | you will ring | |
| ils / elles | sonneront | they will ring |
IN A SENTENCEFuture example
Plus tard, le réveil sonnera à sept heures.
Later, the alarm clock will ring at seven o'clock.
Conditional Conditionnel présent
Hypothetical events and polite requests.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | sonnerais | I would ring | |
| tu | sonnerais | you would ring | |
| il / elle / on | sonnerait | he / she / it would ringon: we would ring / one would ring | |
| nous | sonnerions | we would ring | |
| vous | sonneriez | you would ring | |
| ils / elles | sonneraient | they would ring |
IN A SENTENCEConditional example
Le réveil sonnerait à sept heures.
The alarm clock would ring at seven o'clock.
Present subjunctive Subjonctif présent
Dependent clauses expressing wishes, necessity, doubt, and certain feelings.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | sonne | (that) I ring | |
| tu | sonnes | (that) you ring | |
| il / elle / on | sonne | (that) he / she / it ringson: (that) we ring / one rings | |
| nous | sonnions | (that) we ring | |
| vous | sonniez | (that) you ring | |
| ils / elles | sonnent | (that) they ring |
IN A SENTENCEPresent subjunctive example
Il est possible que le réveil sonne à sept heures.
It is possible that the alarm clock rings at seven o'clock.
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 sound
- to ring
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