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 tap.”
Present Présent
Habits, current states, and actions happening now.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | tape | I tap | |
| tu | tapes | you tap | |
| il / elle / on | tape | he / she / it tapson: we tap / one taps | |
| nous | tapons | we tap | |
| vous | tapez | you tap | |
| ils / elles | tapent | they tap |
IN A SENTENCEPresent example
Paul tape sur la table avec ses doigts.
Paul taps on the table with his fingers.
Passé composé
Completed past events, using avoir or être plus a past participle.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | ai tapé | I tapped | |
| tu | as tapé | you tapped | |
| il / elle / on | a tapé | he / she / it tappedon: we tapped / one tapped | |
| nous | avons tapé | we tapped | |
| vous | avez tapé | you tapped | |
| ils / elles | ont tapé | they tapped |
IN A SENTENCEPassé composé example
Hier, Paul a tapé sur la table avec ses doigts.
Yesterday, Paul tapped on the table with his fingers.
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’ | tapais | I used to tap | |
| tu | tapais | you used to tap | |
| il / elle / on | tapait | he / she / it used to tapon: we used to tap / one used to tap | |
| nous | tapions | we used to tap | |
| vous | tapiez | you used to tap | |
| ils / elles | tapaient | they used to tap |
IN A SENTENCEImperfect example
Autrefois, Paul tapait sur la table avec ses doigts.
Back then, Paul used to tap on the table with his fingers.
Future Futur simple
Future events and predictions.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | taperai | I will tap | |
| tu | taperas | you will tap | |
| il / elle / on | tapera | he / she / it will tapon: we will tap / one will tap | |
| nous | taperons | we will tap | |
| vous | taperez | you will tap | |
| ils / elles | taperont | they will tap |
IN A SENTENCEFuture example
Plus tard, Paul tapera sur la table avec ses doigts.
Later, Paul will tap on the table with his fingers.
Conditional Conditionnel présent
Hypothetical events and polite requests.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | taperais | I would tap | |
| tu | taperais | you would tap | |
| il / elle / on | taperait | he / she / it would tapon: we would tap / one would tap | |
| nous | taperions | we would tap | |
| vous | taperiez | you would tap | |
| ils / elles | taperaient | they would tap |
IN A SENTENCEConditional example
Paul taperait sur la table avec ses doigts.
Paul would tap on the table with his fingers.
Present subjunctive Subjonctif présent
Dependent clauses expressing wishes, necessity, doubt, and certain feelings.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | tape | (that) I tap | |
| tu | tapes | (that) you tap | |
| il / elle / on | tape | (that) he / she / it tapson: (that) we tap / one taps | |
| nous | tapions | (that) we tap | |
| vous | tapiez | (that) you tap | |
| ils / elles | tapent | (that) they tap |
IN A SENTENCEPresent subjunctive example
Il est possible que Paul tape sur la table avec ses doigts.
It is possible that Paul taps on the table with his fingers.
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 slap, knock, beat
- to type (use a keyboard or typewriter)
- to ask (someone) for money, to ask to borrow some money from
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