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 be worth.”
Present Présent
Habits, current states, and actions happening now.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | vaux | I am worth | |
| tu | vaux | you are worth | |
| il / elle / on | vaut | he / she / it is worthon: we are worth / one is worth | |
| nous | valons | we are worth | |
| vous | valez | you are worth | |
| ils / elles | valent | they are worth |
IN A SENTENCEPresent example
Ce tableau vaut mille euros.
This painting is worth a thousand euros.
Passé composé
Completed past events, using avoir or être plus a past participle.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | ai valu | I was worth | |
| tu | as valu | you were worth | |
| il / elle / on | a valu | he / she / it was worthon: we were worth / one was worth | |
| nous | avons valu | we were worth | |
| vous | avez valu | you were worth | |
| ils / elles | ont valu | they were worth |
IN A SENTENCEPassé composé example
Hier, ce tableau a valu mille euros.
Yesterday, this painting was worth a thousand euros.
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’ | valais | I was worth | |
| tu | valais | you were worth | |
| il / elle / on | valait | he / she / it was worthon: we were worth / one was worth | |
| nous | valions | we were worth | |
| vous | valiez | you were worth | |
| ils / elles | valaient | they were worth |
IN A SENTENCEImperfect example
Autrefois, ce tableau valait mille euros.
Back then, this painting was worth a thousand euros.
Future Futur simple
Future events and predictions.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | vaudrai | I will be worth | |
| tu | vaudras | you will be worth | |
| il / elle / on | vaudra | he / she / it will be worthon: we will be worth / one will be worth | |
| nous | vaudrons | we will be worth | |
| vous | vaudrez | you will be worth | |
| ils / elles | vaudront | they will be worth |
IN A SENTENCEFuture example
Plus tard, ce tableau vaudra mille euros.
Later, this painting will be worth a thousand euros.
Conditional Conditionnel présent
Hypothetical events and polite requests.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | vaudrais | I would be worth | |
| tu | vaudrais | you would be worth | |
| il / elle / on | vaudrait | he / she / it would be worthon: we would be worth / one would be worth | |
| nous | vaudrions | we would be worth | |
| vous | vaudriez | you would be worth | |
| ils / elles | vaudraient | they would be worth |
IN A SENTENCEConditional example
Ce tableau vaudrait mille euros.
This painting would be worth a thousand euros.
Present subjunctive Subjonctif présent
Dependent clauses expressing wishes, necessity, doubt, and certain feelings.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | vaille | (that) I am worth | |
| tu | vailles | (that) you are worth | |
| il / elle / on | vaille | (that) he / she / it is worthon: (that) we are worth / one is worth | |
| nous | valions | (that) we are worth | |
| vous | valiez | (that) you are worth | |
| ils / elles | vaillent | (that) they are worth |
IN A SENTENCEPresent subjunctive example
Il est possible que ce tableau vaille mille euros.
It is possible that this painting is worth a thousand euros.
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 be worth
- to earn, to win, to bring (something of value, ironic usage notwithstanding)
- to be equal to
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