pouvoir — French conjugation
to be able to
Indicative
Present (Présent) Regular
Use the présent for habits, what is true now, and what is about to happen soon. A single set of endings covers what English often splits into “I speak” and “I am speaking”.
Elle parle arabe et français.
| Pronoun | French | English |
|---|---|---|
| je | peux | I am able to |
| tu | peux | you are able to |
| il/elle | peut | he/she/it is able to |
| nous | pouvons | we are able to |
| vous | pouvez | you (pl.) are able to |
| ils/elles | peuvent | they are able to |
Simple past (Passé simple) Regular
The passé simple narrates completed past events in a literary or very formal style. In everyday conversation people use the passé composé instead, so you mostly meet this form in books and journalism.
Ils virent le roi s'approcher.
| Pronoun | French | English |
|---|---|---|
| je | pus | I was able to |
| tu | pus | you were able to |
| il/elle | put | he/she/it was able to |
| nous | pûmes | we were able to |
| vous | pûtes | you (pl.) were able to |
| ils/elles | purent | they were able to |
Imperfect (Imparfait) Regular
The imparfait describes ongoing or repeated past actions and sets the background — how things were, what used to happen, weather, feelings. The passé composé, by contrast, marks single completed events.
Quand j'étais petit, j'allais souvent à la piscine.
| Pronoun | French |
|---|---|
| je | pouvais |
| tu | pouvais |
| il/elle | pouvait |
| nous | pouvions |
| vous | pouviez |
| ils/elles | pouvaient |
Conditional (Conditionnel) Regular
The conditionnel is for polite questions and requests, “would”-type hypotheticals, and what someone said would happen. It is also the usual consequent clause in si + imparfait → conditionnel patterns.
Pourriez-vous répéter, s'il vous plaît ?
| Pronoun | French | English |
|---|---|---|
| je | pourrais | I would be able to |
| tu | pourrais | you would be able to |
| il/elle | pourrait | he/she/it would be able to |
| nous | pourrions | we would be able to |
| vous | pourriez | you (pl.) would be able to |
| ils/elles | pourraient | they would be able to |
Future (Futur) Regular
The futur is for future plans and objective predictions. In speech, aller + infinitive is often clearer for the immediate future, while the simple future is common for facts further ahead or in writing.
Demain, nous dînerons chez eux.
| Pronoun | French | English |
|---|---|---|
| je | pourrai | I will be able to |
| tu | pourras | you will be able to |
| il/elle | pourra | he/she/it will be able to |
| nous | pourrons | we will be able to |
| vous | pourrez | you (pl.) will be able to |
| ils/elles | pourront | they will be able to |
Present perfect (Passé composé) Regular
The passé composé is the main spoken past for completed, bounded actions (often with a time adverb). Use avoir with most verbs; être is required for a fixed group of motion/inchange and all pronominal verbs, with participle agreement when necessary.
Elle est venue tôt, puis elle a téléphoné.
| Pronoun | French | English |
|---|---|---|
| je | j'ai pu | I have been able to |
| tu | tu as pu | you have been able to |
| il/elle | il/elle a pu | he/she/it has been able to |
| nous | nous avons pu | we have been able to |
| vous | vous avez pu | you (pl.) have been able to |
| ils/elles | ils/elles ont pu | they have been able to |
Pluperfect (Plus-que-parfait) Regular
The plus-que-parfait is the “earlier past”: one action was already over before another past moment. It answers “had already” when a story is anchored in a past time.
Déjà, il avait fini quand je suis arrivé.
| Pronoun | French | English |
|---|---|---|
| je | j'avais pu | I had been able to |
| tu | tu avais pu | you had been able to |
| il/elle | il/elle avait pu | he/she/it had been able to |
| nous | nous avions pu | we had been able to |
| vous | vous aviez pu | you (pl.) had been able to |
| ils/elles | ils/elles avaient pu | they had been able to |
Conditional perfect (Conditionnel passé) Regular
The conditionnel passé states what would have been true, plans that failed, and unreal past if-clauses (often with si + plus-que-parfait in the apodose).
J'aurais dit oui, mais c'était impossible.
| Pronoun | French |
|---|---|
| je | j'aurais pu |
| tu | tu aurais pu |
| il/elle | il/elle aurait pu |
| nous | nous aurions pu |
| vous | vous auriez pu |
| ils/elles | ils/elles auraient pu |
Future perfect (Futur antérieur) Regular
The futur antérieur marks an action that will be finished before a later future moment (by then I will have…). It can also suggest a conjecture about a recent past fact in formal or literary use.
D'ici samedi, j'aurai lu le rapport.
| Pronoun | French | English |
|---|---|---|
| je | j'aurai pu | I will have been able to |
| tu | tu auras pu | you will have been able to |
| il/elle | il/elle aura pu | he/she/it will have been able to |
| nous | nous aurons pu | we will have been able to |
| vous | vous aurez pu | you (pl.) will have been able to |
| ils/elles | ils/elles auront pu | they will have been able to |
Subjunctive
Present subjunctive (Subjonctif présent) Regular
The present subjunctive appears in subordinate clauses after desire, doubt, fear, need, and many impersonals, usually when the subject of the subordinate is different. Learn common triggers: il faut que, je veux que, je doute que…
Il faut qu'il parte avant midi.
| Pronoun | French |
|---|---|
| je | puisse |
| tu | puisses |
| il/elle | puisse |
| nous | puissions |
| vous | puissiez |
| ils/elles | puissent |
Imperfect subjunctive (Subjonctif imparfait) Regular
The imparfait du subjonctif is a literary and formal past subjunctive. In modern speech, the present subjunctive usually replaces it for the same meaning.
Bien qu'il fût fatigué, il continua.
| Pronoun | French |
|---|---|
| je | pusse |
| tu | pusses |
| il/elle | pût |
| nous | pussions |
| vous | pussiez |
| ils/elles | pussent |