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 betray.”
Present Présent
Habits, current states, and actions happening now.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | trahis | I betray | |
| tu | trahis | you betray | |
| il / elle / on | trahit | he / she / it betrayson: we betray / one betrays | |
| nous | trahissons | we betray | |
| vous | trahissez | you betray | |
| ils / elles | trahissent | they betray |
IN A SENTENCEPresent example
Paul trahit la confiance de son ami.
Paul betrays his friend's trust.
Passé composé
Completed past events, using avoir or être plus a past participle.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | ai trahi | I betrayed | |
| tu | as trahi | you betrayed | |
| il / elle / on | a trahi | he / she / it betrayedon: we betrayed / one betrayed | |
| nous | avons trahi | we betrayed | |
| vous | avez trahi | you betrayed | |
| ils / elles | ont trahi | they betrayed |
IN A SENTENCEPassé composé example
Hier, Paul a trahi la confiance de son ami.
Yesterday, Paul betrayed his friend's trust.
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’ | trahissais | I used to betray | |
| tu | trahissais | you used to betray | |
| il / elle / on | trahissait | he / she / it used to betrayon: we used to betray / one used to betray | |
| nous | trahissions | we used to betray | |
| vous | trahissiez | you used to betray | |
| ils / elles | trahissaient | they used to betray |
IN A SENTENCEImperfect example
Autrefois, Paul trahissait la confiance de son ami.
Back then, Paul used to betray his friend's trust.
Future Futur simple
Future events and predictions.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | trahirai | I will betray | |
| tu | trahiras | you will betray | |
| il / elle / on | trahira | he / she / it will betrayon: we will betray / one will betray | |
| nous | trahirons | we will betray | |
| vous | trahirez | you will betray | |
| ils / elles | trahiront | they will betray |
IN A SENTENCEFuture example
Plus tard, Paul trahira la confiance de son ami.
Later, Paul will betray his friend's trust.
Conditional Conditionnel présent
Hypothetical events and polite requests.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | trahirais | I would betray | |
| tu | trahirais | you would betray | |
| il / elle / on | trahirait | he / she / it would betrayon: we would betray / one would betray | |
| nous | trahirions | we would betray | |
| vous | trahiriez | you would betray | |
| ils / elles | trahiraient | they would betray |
IN A SENTENCEConditional example
Paul trahirait la confiance de son ami.
Paul would betray his friend's trust.
Present subjunctive Subjonctif présent
Dependent clauses expressing wishes, necessity, doubt, and certain feelings.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | trahisse | (that) I betray | |
| tu | trahisses | (that) you betray | |
| il / elle / on | trahisse | (that) he / she / it betrayson: (that) we betray / one betrays | |
| nous | trahissions | (that) we betray | |
| vous | trahissiez | (that) you betray | |
| ils / elles | trahissent | (that) they betray |
IN A SENTENCEPresent subjunctive example
Il est possible que Paul trahisse la confiance de son ami.
It is possible that Paul betrays his friend's trust.
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 betray
- to give away, to reveal
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