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 undergo.”
Present Présent
Habits, current states, and actions happening now.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | subis | I undergo | |
| tu | subis | you undergo | |
| il / elle / on | subit | he / she / it undergoeson: we undergo / one undergoes | |
| nous | subissons | we undergo | |
| vous | subissez | you undergo | |
| ils / elles | subissent | they undergo |
IN A SENTENCEPresent example
Paul subit une opération.
Paul undergoes an operation.
Passé composé
Completed past events, using avoir or être plus a past participle.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | ai subi | I underwent | |
| tu | as subi | you underwent | |
| il / elle / on | a subi | he / she / it underwenton: we underwent / one underwent | |
| nous | avons subi | we underwent | |
| vous | avez subi | you underwent | |
| ils / elles | ont subi | they underwent |
IN A SENTENCEPassé composé example
Hier, Paul a subi une opération.
Yesterday, Paul underwent an operation.
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’ | subissais | I used to undergo | |
| tu | subissais | you used to undergo | |
| il / elle / on | subissait | he / she / it used to undergoon: we used to undergo / one used to undergo | |
| nous | subissions | we used to undergo | |
| vous | subissiez | you used to undergo | |
| ils / elles | subissaient | they used to undergo |
IN A SENTENCEImperfect example
Autrefois, Paul subissait une opération.
Back then, Paul used to undergo an operation.
Future Futur simple
Future events and predictions.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | subirai | I will undergo | |
| tu | subiras | you will undergo | |
| il / elle / on | subira | he / she / it will undergoon: we will undergo / one will undergo | |
| nous | subirons | we will undergo | |
| vous | subirez | you will undergo | |
| ils / elles | subiront | they will undergo |
IN A SENTENCEFuture example
Plus tard, Paul subira une opération.
Later, Paul will undergo an operation.
Conditional Conditionnel présent
Hypothetical events and polite requests.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | subirais | I would undergo | |
| tu | subirais | you would undergo | |
| il / elle / on | subirait | he / she / it would undergoon: we would undergo / one would undergo | |
| nous | subirions | we would undergo | |
| vous | subiriez | you would undergo | |
| ils / elles | subiraient | they would undergo |
IN A SENTENCEConditional example
Paul subirait une opération.
Paul would undergo an operation.
Present subjunctive Subjonctif présent
Dependent clauses expressing wishes, necessity, doubt, and certain feelings.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | subisse | (that) I undergo | |
| tu | subisses | (that) you undergo | |
| il / elle / on | subisse | (that) he / she / it undergoeson: (that) we undergo / one undergoes | |
| nous | subissions | (that) we undergo | |
| vous | subissiez | (that) you undergo | |
| ils / elles | subissent | (that) they undergo |
IN A SENTENCEPresent subjunctive example
Il est possible que Paul subisse une opération.
It is possible that Paul undergoes an operation.
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 undergo; to suffer
- to suffer
- to undergo, be subjected to
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