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 tremble.”
Present Présent
Habits, current states, and actions happening now.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | tremble | I tremble | |
| tu | trembles | you tremble | |
| il / elle / on | tremble | he / she / it trembleson: we tremble / one trembles | |
| nous | tremblons | we tremble | |
| vous | tremblez | you tremble | |
| ils / elles | tremblent | they tremble |
IN A SENTENCEPresent example
Paul tremble de froid.
Paul trembles with cold.
Passé composé
Completed past events, using avoir or être plus a past participle.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | ai tremblé | I trembled | |
| tu | as tremblé | you trembled | |
| il / elle / on | a tremblé | he / she / it trembledon: we trembled / one trembled | |
| nous | avons tremblé | we trembled | |
| vous | avez tremblé | you trembled | |
| ils / elles | ont tremblé | they trembled |
IN A SENTENCEPassé composé example
Hier, Paul a tremblé de froid.
Yesterday, Paul trembled with cold.
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’ | tremblais | I used to tremble | |
| tu | tremblais | you used to tremble | |
| il / elle / on | tremblait | he / she / it used to trembleon: we used to tremble / one used to tremble | |
| nous | tremblions | we used to tremble | |
| vous | trembliez | you used to tremble | |
| ils / elles | tremblaient | they used to tremble |
IN A SENTENCEImperfect example
Autrefois, Paul tremblait de froid.
Back then, Paul used to tremble with cold.
Future Futur simple
Future events and predictions.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | tremblerai | I will tremble | |
| tu | trembleras | you will tremble | |
| il / elle / on | tremblera | he / she / it will trembleon: we will tremble / one will tremble | |
| nous | tremblerons | we will tremble | |
| vous | tremblerez | you will tremble | |
| ils / elles | trembleront | they will tremble |
IN A SENTENCEFuture example
Plus tard, Paul tremblera de froid.
Later, Paul will tremble with cold.
Conditional Conditionnel présent
Hypothetical events and polite requests.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | tremblerais | I would tremble | |
| tu | tremblerais | you would tremble | |
| il / elle / on | tremblerait | he / she / it would trembleon: we would tremble / one would tremble | |
| nous | tremblerions | we would tremble | |
| vous | trembleriez | you would tremble | |
| ils / elles | trembleraient | they would tremble |
IN A SENTENCEConditional example
Paul tremblerait de froid.
Paul would tremble with cold.
Present subjunctive Subjonctif présent
Dependent clauses expressing wishes, necessity, doubt, and certain feelings.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | tremble | (that) I tremble | |
| tu | trembles | (that) you tremble | |
| il / elle / on | tremble | (that) he / she / it trembleson: (that) we tremble / one trembles | |
| nous | tremblions | (that) we tremble | |
| vous | trembliez | (that) you tremble | |
| ils / elles | tremblent | (that) they tremble |
IN A SENTENCEPresent subjunctive example
Il est possible que Paul tremble de froid.
It is possible that Paul trembles with cold.
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 tremble, shake
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