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 spark.”
Present Présent
Habits, current states, and actions happening now.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | suscite | I spark | |
| tu | suscites | you spark | |
| il / elle / on | suscite | he / she / it sparkson: we spark / one sparks | |
| nous | suscitons | we spark | |
| vous | suscitez | you spark | |
| ils / elles | suscitent | they spark |
IN A SENTENCEPresent example
Le projet suscite un débat animé.
The project sparks a lively debate.
Passé composé
Completed past events, using avoir or être plus a past participle.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | ai suscité | I sparked | |
| tu | as suscité | you sparked | |
| il / elle / on | a suscité | he / she / it sparkedon: we sparked / one sparked | |
| nous | avons suscité | we sparked | |
| vous | avez suscité | you sparked | |
| ils / elles | ont suscité | they sparked |
IN A SENTENCEPassé composé example
Hier, le projet a suscité un débat animé.
Yesterday, the project sparked a lively debate.
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’ | suscitais | I used to spark | |
| tu | suscitais | you used to spark | |
| il / elle / on | suscitait | he / she / it used to sparkon: we used to spark / one used to spark | |
| nous | suscitions | we used to spark | |
| vous | suscitiez | you used to spark | |
| ils / elles | suscitaient | they used to spark |
IN A SENTENCEImperfect example
Autrefois, le projet suscitait un débat animé.
Back then, the project used to spark a lively debate.
Future Futur simple
Future events and predictions.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | susciterai | I will spark | |
| tu | susciteras | you will spark | |
| il / elle / on | suscitera | he / she / it will sparkon: we will spark / one will spark | |
| nous | susciterons | we will spark | |
| vous | susciterez | you will spark | |
| ils / elles | susciteront | they will spark |
IN A SENTENCEFuture example
Plus tard, le projet suscitera un débat animé.
Later, the project will spark a lively debate.
Conditional Conditionnel présent
Hypothetical events and polite requests.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | susciterais | I would spark | |
| tu | susciterais | you would spark | |
| il / elle / on | susciterait | he / she / it would sparkon: we would spark / one would spark | |
| nous | susciterions | we would spark | |
| vous | susciteriez | you would spark | |
| ils / elles | susciteraient | they would spark |
IN A SENTENCEConditional example
Le projet susciterait un débat animé.
The project would spark a lively debate.
Present subjunctive Subjonctif présent
Dependent clauses expressing wishes, necessity, doubt, and certain feelings.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | suscite | (that) I spark | |
| tu | suscites | (that) you spark | |
| il / elle / on | suscite | (that) he / she / it sparkson: (that) we spark / one sparks | |
| nous | suscitions | (that) we spark | |
| vous | suscitiez | (that) you spark | |
| ils / elles | suscitent | (that) they spark |
IN A SENTENCEPresent subjunctive example
Il est possible que le projet suscite un débat animé.
It is possible that the project sparks a lively debate.
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 stir up, fuel, evoke, suscitate
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