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 surprise.”
Present Présent
Habits, current states, and actions happening now.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | surprends | I surprise | |
| tu | surprends | you surprise | |
| il / elle / on | surprend | he / she / it surpriseson: we surprise / one surprises | |
| nous | surprenons | we surprise | |
| vous | surprenez | you surprise | |
| ils / elles | surprennent | they surprise |
IN A SENTENCEPresent example
Ce cadeau surprend Paul.
This gift surprises Paul.
Passé composé
Completed past events, using avoir or être plus a past participle.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | ai surpris | I surprised | |
| tu | as surpris | you surprised | |
| il / elle / on | a surpris | he / she / it surprisedon: we surprised / one surprised | |
| nous | avons surpris | we surprised | |
| vous | avez surpris | you surprised | |
| ils / elles | ont surpris | they surprised |
IN A SENTENCEPassé composé example
Hier, ce cadeau a surpris Paul.
Yesterday, this gift surprised Paul.
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’ | surprenais | I used to surprise | |
| tu | surprenais | you used to surprise | |
| il / elle / on | surprenait | he / she / it used to surpriseon: we used to surprise / one used to surprise | |
| nous | surprenions | we used to surprise | |
| vous | surpreniez | you used to surprise | |
| ils / elles | surprenaient | they used to surprise |
IN A SENTENCEImperfect example
Autrefois, ce cadeau surprenait Paul.
Back then, this gift used to surprise Paul.
Future Futur simple
Future events and predictions.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | surprendrai | I will surprise | |
| tu | surprendras | you will surprise | |
| il / elle / on | surprendra | he / she / it will surpriseon: we will surprise / one will surprise | |
| nous | surprendrons | we will surprise | |
| vous | surprendrez | you will surprise | |
| ils / elles | surprendront | they will surprise |
IN A SENTENCEFuture example
Plus tard, ce cadeau surprendra Paul.
Later, this gift will surprise Paul.
Conditional Conditionnel présent
Hypothetical events and polite requests.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | surprendrais | I would surprise | |
| tu | surprendrais | you would surprise | |
| il / elle / on | surprendrait | he / she / it would surpriseon: we would surprise / one would surprise | |
| nous | surprendrions | we would surprise | |
| vous | surprendriez | you would surprise | |
| ils / elles | surprendraient | they would surprise |
IN A SENTENCEConditional example
Ce cadeau surprendrait Paul.
This gift would surprise Paul.
Present subjunctive Subjonctif présent
Dependent clauses expressing wishes, necessity, doubt, and certain feelings.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | surprenne | (that) I surprise | |
| tu | surprennes | (that) you surprise | |
| il / elle / on | surprenne | (that) he / she / it surpriseson: (that) we surprise / one surprises | |
| nous | surprenions | (that) we surprise | |
| vous | surpreniez | (that) you surprise | |
| ils / elles | surprennent | (that) they surprise |
IN A SENTENCEPresent subjunctive example
Il est possible que ce cadeau surprenne Paul.
It is possible that this gift surprises Paul.
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 surprise
- to catch out
- to overhear, to discover, to spot (an action or secret someone is trying to hide)
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