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 pull.”
Present Présent
Habits, current states, and actions happening now.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | tire | I pull | |
| tu | tires | you pull | |
| il / elle / on | tire | he / she / it pullson: we pull / one pulls | |
| nous | tirons | we pull | |
| vous | tirez | you pull | |
| ils / elles | tirent | they pull |
IN A SENTENCEPresent example
Paul tire la corde.
Paul pulls the rope.
Passé composé
Completed past events, using avoir or être plus a past participle.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | ai tiré | I pulled | |
| tu | as tiré | you pulled | |
| il / elle / on | a tiré | he / she / it pulledon: we pulled / one pulled | |
| nous | avons tiré | we pulled | |
| vous | avez tiré | you pulled | |
| ils / elles | ont tiré | they pulled |
IN A SENTENCEPassé composé example
Hier, Paul a tiré la corde.
Yesterday, Paul pulled the rope.
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’ | tirais | I used to pull | |
| tu | tirais | you used to pull | |
| il / elle / on | tirait | he / she / it used to pullon: we used to pull / one used to pull | |
| nous | tirions | we used to pull | |
| vous | tiriez | you used to pull | |
| ils / elles | tiraient | they used to pull |
IN A SENTENCEImperfect example
Autrefois, Paul tirait la corde.
Back then, Paul used to pull the rope.
Future Futur simple
Future events and predictions.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | tirerai | I will pull | |
| tu | tireras | you will pull | |
| il / elle / on | tirera | he / she / it will pullon: we will pull / one will pull | |
| nous | tirerons | we will pull | |
| vous | tirerez | you will pull | |
| ils / elles | tireront | they will pull |
IN A SENTENCEFuture example
Plus tard, Paul tirera la corde.
Later, Paul will pull the rope.
Conditional Conditionnel présent
Hypothetical events and polite requests.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | tirerais | I would pull | |
| tu | tirerais | you would pull | |
| il / elle / on | tirerait | he / she / it would pullon: we would pull / one would pull | |
| nous | tirerions | we would pull | |
| vous | tireriez | you would pull | |
| ils / elles | tireraient | they would pull |
IN A SENTENCEConditional example
Paul tirerait la corde.
Paul would pull the rope.
Present subjunctive Subjonctif présent
Dependent clauses expressing wishes, necessity, doubt, and certain feelings.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | tire | (that) I pull | |
| tu | tires | (that) you pull | |
| il / elle / on | tire | (that) he / she / it pullson: (that) we pull / one pulls | |
| nous | tirions | (that) we pull | |
| vous | tiriez | (that) you pull | |
| ils / elles | tirent | (that) they pull |
IN A SENTENCEPresent subjunctive example
Il est possible que Paul tire la corde.
It is possible that Paul pulls the rope.
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 draw, drag, pull
- to shoot
- to draw (conclusions), to consider (consequences)
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