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 lift.”
Present Présent
Habits, current states, and actions happening now.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | soulève | I lift | |
| tu | soulèves | you lift | |
| il / elle / on | soulève | he / she / it liftson: we lift / one lifts | |
| nous | soulevons | we lift | |
| vous | soulevez | you lift | |
| ils / elles | soulèvent | they lift |
IN A SENTENCEPresent example
Paul soulève le carton avec précaution.
Paul lifts the box carefully.
Passé composé
Completed past events, using avoir or être plus a past participle.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | ai soulevé | I lifted | |
| tu | as soulevé | you lifted | |
| il / elle / on | a soulevé | he / she / it liftedon: we lifted / one lifted | |
| nous | avons soulevé | we lifted | |
| vous | avez soulevé | you lifted | |
| ils / elles | ont soulevé | they lifted |
IN A SENTENCEPassé composé example
Hier, Paul a soulevé le carton avec précaution.
Yesterday, Paul lifted the box carefully.
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’ | soulevais | I used to lift | |
| tu | soulevais | you used to lift | |
| il / elle / on | soulevait | he / she / it used to lifton: we used to lift / one used to lift | |
| nous | soulevions | we used to lift | |
| vous | souleviez | you used to lift | |
| ils / elles | soulevaient | they used to lift |
IN A SENTENCEImperfect example
Autrefois, Paul soulevait le carton avec précaution.
Back then, Paul used to lift the box carefully.
Future Futur simple
Future events and predictions.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | soulèverai | I will lift | |
| tu | soulèveras | you will lift | |
| il / elle / on | soulèvera | he / she / it will lifton: we will lift / one will lift | |
| nous | soulèverons | we will lift | |
| vous | soulèverez | you will lift | |
| ils / elles | soulèveront | they will lift |
IN A SENTENCEFuture example
Plus tard, Paul soulèvera le carton avec précaution.
Later, Paul will lift the box carefully.
Conditional Conditionnel présent
Hypothetical events and polite requests.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | soulèverais | I would lift | |
| tu | soulèverais | you would lift | |
| il / elle / on | soulèverait | he / she / it would lifton: we would lift / one would lift | |
| nous | soulèverions | we would lift | |
| vous | soulèveriez | you would lift | |
| ils / elles | soulèveraient | they would lift |
IN A SENTENCEConditional example
Paul soulèverait le carton avec précaution.
Paul would lift the box carefully.
Present subjunctive Subjonctif présent
Dependent clauses expressing wishes, necessity, doubt, and certain feelings.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | soulève | (that) I lift | |
| tu | soulèves | (that) you lift | |
| il / elle / on | soulève | (that) he / she / it liftson: (that) we lift / one lifts | |
| nous | soulevions | (that) we lift | |
| vous | souleviez | (that) you lift | |
| ils / elles | soulèvent | (that) they lift |
IN A SENTENCEPresent subjunctive example
Il est possible que Paul soulève le carton avec précaution.
It is possible that Paul lifts the box carefully.
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 raise, to lift up, to pick up
- to stir up (emotions), to rouse (interest)
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