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 support.”
Present Présent
Habits, current states, and actions happening now.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | soutiens | I support | |
| tu | soutiens | you support | |
| il / elle / on | soutient | he / she / it supportson: we support / one supports | |
| nous | soutenons | we support | |
| vous | soutenez | you support | |
| ils / elles | soutiennent | they support |
IN A SENTENCEPresent example
Paul soutient son ami dans cette épreuve.
Paul supports his friend through this ordeal.
Passé composé
Completed past events, using avoir or être plus a past participle.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | ai soutenu | I supported | |
| tu | as soutenu | you supported | |
| il / elle / on | a soutenu | he / she / it supportedon: we supported / one supported | |
| nous | avons soutenu | we supported | |
| vous | avez soutenu | you supported | |
| ils / elles | ont soutenu | they supported |
IN A SENTENCEPassé composé example
Hier, Paul a soutenu son ami dans cette épreuve.
Yesterday, Paul supported his friend through this ordeal.
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’ | soutenais | I used to support | |
| tu | soutenais | you used to support | |
| il / elle / on | soutenait | he / she / it used to supporton: we used to support / one used to support | |
| nous | soutenions | we used to support | |
| vous | souteniez | you used to support | |
| ils / elles | soutenaient | they used to support |
IN A SENTENCEImperfect example
Autrefois, Paul soutenait son ami dans cette épreuve.
Back then, Paul used to support his friend through this ordeal.
Future Futur simple
Future events and predictions.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | soutiendrai | I will support | |
| tu | soutiendras | you will support | |
| il / elle / on | soutiendra | he / she / it will supporton: we will support / one will support | |
| nous | soutiendrons | we will support | |
| vous | soutiendrez | you will support | |
| ils / elles | soutiendront | they will support |
IN A SENTENCEFuture example
Plus tard, Paul soutiendra son ami dans cette épreuve.
Later, Paul will support his friend through this ordeal.
Conditional Conditionnel présent
Hypothetical events and polite requests.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | soutiendrais | I would support | |
| tu | soutiendrais | you would support | |
| il / elle / on | soutiendrait | he / she / it would supporton: we would support / one would support | |
| nous | soutiendrions | we would support | |
| vous | soutiendriez | you would support | |
| ils / elles | soutiendraient | they would support |
IN A SENTENCEConditional example
Paul soutiendrait son ami dans cette épreuve.
Paul would support his friend through this ordeal.
Present subjunctive Subjonctif présent
Dependent clauses expressing wishes, necessity, doubt, and certain feelings.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | soutienne | (that) I support | |
| tu | soutiennes | (that) you support | |
| il / elle / on | soutienne | (that) he / she / it supportson: (that) we support / one supports | |
| nous | soutenions | (that) we support | |
| vous | souteniez | (that) you support | |
| ils / elles | soutiennent | (that) they support |
IN A SENTENCEPresent subjunctive example
Il est possible que Paul soutienne son ami dans cette épreuve.
It is possible that Paul supports his friend through this ordeal.
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 support
- to keep up
- to maintain (that)
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