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 slice.”
Present Présent
Habits, current states, and actions happening now.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | tranche | I slice | |
| tu | tranches | you slice | |
| il / elle / on | tranche | he / she / it sliceson: we slice / one slices | |
| nous | tranchons | we slice | |
| vous | tranchez | you slice | |
| ils / elles | tranchent | they slice |
IN A SENTENCEPresent example
Paul tranche le pain sur la planche.
Paul slices the bread on the board.
Passé composé
Completed past events, using avoir or être plus a past participle.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | ai tranché | I sliced | |
| tu | as tranché | you sliced | |
| il / elle / on | a tranché | he / she / it slicedon: we sliced / one sliced | |
| nous | avons tranché | we sliced | |
| vous | avez tranché | you sliced | |
| ils / elles | ont tranché | they sliced |
IN A SENTENCEPassé composé example
Hier, Paul a tranché le pain sur la planche.
Yesterday, Paul sliced the bread on the board.
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’ | tranchais | I used to slice | |
| tu | tranchais | you used to slice | |
| il / elle / on | tranchait | he / she / it used to sliceon: we used to slice / one used to slice | |
| nous | tranchions | we used to slice | |
| vous | tranchiez | you used to slice | |
| ils / elles | tranchaient | they used to slice |
IN A SENTENCEImperfect example
Autrefois, Paul tranchait le pain sur la planche.
Back then, Paul used to slice the bread on the board.
Future Futur simple
Future events and predictions.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | trancherai | I will slice | |
| tu | trancheras | you will slice | |
| il / elle / on | tranchera | he / she / it will sliceon: we will slice / one will slice | |
| nous | trancherons | we will slice | |
| vous | trancherez | you will slice | |
| ils / elles | trancheront | they will slice |
IN A SENTENCEFuture example
Plus tard, Paul tranchera le pain sur la planche.
Later, Paul will slice the bread on the board.
Conditional Conditionnel présent
Hypothetical events and polite requests.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | trancherais | I would slice | |
| tu | trancherais | you would slice | |
| il / elle / on | trancherait | he / she / it would sliceon: we would slice / one would slice | |
| nous | trancherions | we would slice | |
| vous | trancheriez | you would slice | |
| ils / elles | trancheraient | they would slice |
IN A SENTENCEConditional example
Paul trancherait le pain sur la planche.
Paul would slice the bread on the board.
Present subjunctive Subjonctif présent
Dependent clauses expressing wishes, necessity, doubt, and certain feelings.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | tranche | (that) I slice | |
| tu | tranches | (that) you slice | |
| il / elle / on | tranche | (that) he / she / it sliceson: (that) we slice / one slices | |
| nous | tranchions | (that) we slice | |
| vous | tranchiez | (that) you slice | |
| ils / elles | tranchent | (that) they slice |
IN A SENTENCEPresent subjunctive example
Il est possible que Paul tranche le pain sur la planche.
It is possible that Paul slices the bread on the board.
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 slice, cut into slices
- to decide, settle, address
- to rule, make a ruling, come to a decision
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