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 suffice.”
Present Présent
Habits, current states, and actions happening now.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | suffis | I suffice | |
| tu | suffis | you suffice | |
| il / elle / on | suffit | he / she / it sufficeson: we suffice / one suffices | |
| nous | suffisons | we suffice | |
| vous | suffisez | you suffice | |
| ils / elles | suffisent | they suffice |
IN A SENTENCEPresent example
Un seul billet suffit pour entrer.
A single ticket suffices for entry.
Passé composé
Completed past events, using avoir or être plus a past participle.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | ai suffi | I sufficed | |
| tu | as suffi | you sufficed | |
| il / elle / on | a suffi | he / she / it sufficedon: we sufficed / one sufficed | |
| nous | avons suffi | we sufficed | |
| vous | avez suffi | you sufficed | |
| ils / elles | ont suffi | they sufficed |
IN A SENTENCEPassé composé example
Hier, un seul billet a suffi pour entrer.
Yesterday, a single ticket sufficed for entry.
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’ | suffisais | I used to suffice | |
| tu | suffisais | you used to suffice | |
| il / elle / on | suffisait | he / she / it used to sufficeon: we used to suffice / one used to suffice | |
| nous | suffisions | we used to suffice | |
| vous | suffisiez | you used to suffice | |
| ils / elles | suffisaient | they used to suffice |
IN A SENTENCEImperfect example
Autrefois, un seul billet suffisait pour entrer.
Back then, a single ticket used to suffice for entry.
Future Futur simple
Future events and predictions.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | suffirai | I will suffice | |
| tu | suffiras | you will suffice | |
| il / elle / on | suffira | he / she / it will sufficeon: we will suffice / one will suffice | |
| nous | suffirons | we will suffice | |
| vous | suffirez | you will suffice | |
| ils / elles | suffiront | they will suffice |
IN A SENTENCEFuture example
Plus tard, un seul billet suffira pour entrer.
Later, a single ticket will suffice for entry.
Conditional Conditionnel présent
Hypothetical events and polite requests.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | suffirais | I would suffice | |
| tu | suffirais | you would suffice | |
| il / elle / on | suffirait | he / she / it would sufficeon: we would suffice / one would suffice | |
| nous | suffirions | we would suffice | |
| vous | suffiriez | you would suffice | |
| ils / elles | suffiraient | they would suffice |
IN A SENTENCEConditional example
Un seul billet suffirait pour entrer.
A single ticket would suffice for entry.
Present subjunctive Subjonctif présent
Dependent clauses expressing wishes, necessity, doubt, and certain feelings.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | suffise | (that) I suffice | |
| tu | suffises | (that) you suffice | |
| il / elle / on | suffise | (that) he / she / it sufficeson: (that) we suffice / one suffices | |
| nous | suffisions | (that) we suffice | |
| vous | suffisiez | (that) you suffice | |
| ils / elles | suffisent | (that) they suffice |
IN A SENTENCEPresent subjunctive example
Il est possible qu’un seul billet suffise pour entrer.
It is possible that a single ticket suffices for entry.
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 be enough, to suffice
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