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 relieve.”
Present Présent
Habits, current states, and actions happening now.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | soulage | I relieve | |
| tu | soulages | you relieve | |
| il / elle / on | soulage | he / she / it relieveson: we relieve / one relieves | |
| nous | soulageons | we relieve | |
| vous | soulagez | you relieve | |
| ils / elles | soulagent | they relieve |
IN A SENTENCEPresent example
Ce médicament soulage la douleur.
This medicine relieves the pain.
Passé composé
Completed past events, using avoir or être plus a past participle.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | ai soulagé | I relieved | |
| tu | as soulagé | you relieved | |
| il / elle / on | a soulagé | he / she / it relievedon: we relieved / one relieved | |
| nous | avons soulagé | we relieved | |
| vous | avez soulagé | you relieved | |
| ils / elles | ont soulagé | they relieved |
IN A SENTENCEPassé composé example
Hier, ce médicament a soulagé la douleur.
Yesterday, this medicine relieved the pain.
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’ | soulageais | I used to relieve | |
| tu | soulageais | you used to relieve | |
| il / elle / on | soulageait | he / she / it used to relieveon: we used to relieve / one used to relieve | |
| nous | soulagions | we used to relieve | |
| vous | soulagiez | you used to relieve | |
| ils / elles | soulageaient | they used to relieve |
IN A SENTENCEImperfect example
Autrefois, ce médicament soulageait la douleur.
Back then, this medicine used to relieve the pain.
Future Futur simple
Future events and predictions.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | soulagerai | I will relieve | |
| tu | soulageras | you will relieve | |
| il / elle / on | soulagera | he / she / it will relieveon: we will relieve / one will relieve | |
| nous | soulagerons | we will relieve | |
| vous | soulagerez | you will relieve | |
| ils / elles | soulageront | they will relieve |
IN A SENTENCEFuture example
Plus tard, ce médicament soulagera la douleur.
Later, this medicine will relieve the pain.
Conditional Conditionnel présent
Hypothetical events and polite requests.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | soulagerais | I would relieve | |
| tu | soulagerais | you would relieve | |
| il / elle / on | soulagerait | he / she / it would relieveon: we would relieve / one would relieve | |
| nous | soulagerions | we would relieve | |
| vous | soulageriez | you would relieve | |
| ils / elles | soulageraient | they would relieve |
IN A SENTENCEConditional example
Ce médicament soulagerait la douleur.
This medicine would relieve the pain.
Present subjunctive Subjonctif présent
Dependent clauses expressing wishes, necessity, doubt, and certain feelings.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | soulage | (that) I relieve | |
| tu | soulages | (that) you relieve | |
| il / elle / on | soulage | (that) he / she / it relieveson: (that) we relieve / one relieves | |
| nous | soulagions | (that) we relieve | |
| vous | soulagiez | (that) you relieve | |
| ils / elles | soulagent | (that) they relieve |
IN A SENTENCEPresent subjunctive example
Il est possible que ce médicament soulage la douleur.
It is possible that this medicine relieves the pain.
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 relieve, soothe
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