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 trim.”
Present Présent
Habits, current states, and actions happening now.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | taille | I trim | |
| tu | tailles | you trim | |
| il / elle / on | taille | he / she / it trimson: we trim / one trims | |
| nous | taillons | we trim | |
| vous | taillez | you trim | |
| ils / elles | taillent | they trim |
IN A SENTENCEPresent example
Paul taille la haie du jardin.
Paul trims the garden hedge.
Passé composé
Completed past events, using avoir or être plus a past participle.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | ai taillé | I trimmed | |
| tu | as taillé | you trimmed | |
| il / elle / on | a taillé | he / she / it trimmedon: we trimmed / one trimmed | |
| nous | avons taillé | we trimmed | |
| vous | avez taillé | you trimmed | |
| ils / elles | ont taillé | they trimmed |
IN A SENTENCEPassé composé example
Hier, Paul a taillé la haie du jardin.
Yesterday, Paul trimmed the garden hedge.
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’ | taillais | I used to trim | |
| tu | taillais | you used to trim | |
| il / elle / on | taillait | he / she / it used to trimon: we used to trim / one used to trim | |
| nous | taillions | we used to trim | |
| vous | tailliez | you used to trim | |
| ils / elles | taillaient | they used to trim |
IN A SENTENCEImperfect example
Autrefois, Paul taillait la haie du jardin.
Back then, Paul used to trim the garden hedge.
Future Futur simple
Future events and predictions.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | taillerai | I will trim | |
| tu | tailleras | you will trim | |
| il / elle / on | taillera | he / she / it will trimon: we will trim / one will trim | |
| nous | taillerons | we will trim | |
| vous | taillerez | you will trim | |
| ils / elles | tailleront | they will trim |
IN A SENTENCEFuture example
Plus tard, Paul taillera la haie du jardin.
Later, Paul will trim the garden hedge.
Conditional Conditionnel présent
Hypothetical events and polite requests.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | taillerais | I would trim | |
| tu | taillerais | you would trim | |
| il / elle / on | taillerait | he / she / it would trimon: we would trim / one would trim | |
| nous | taillerions | we would trim | |
| vous | tailleriez | you would trim | |
| ils / elles | tailleraient | they would trim |
IN A SENTENCEConditional example
Paul taillerait la haie du jardin.
Paul would trim the garden hedge.
Present subjunctive Subjonctif présent
Dependent clauses expressing wishes, necessity, doubt, and certain feelings.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | taille | (that) I trim | |
| tu | tailles | (that) you trim | |
| il / elle / on | taille | (that) he / she / it trimson: (that) we trim / one trims | |
| nous | taillions | (that) we trim | |
| vous | tailliez | (that) you trim | |
| ils / elles | taillent | (that) they trim |
IN A SENTENCEPresent subjunctive example
Il est possible que Paul taille la haie du jardin.
It is possible that Paul trims the garden hedge.
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 cut
- to sharpen
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