Translating Simple Tenses and Moods

Traduire les temps et modes simples

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French and English have a number of important differences in verb tenses and moods, which can make translating the various conjugations from one language to the other a bit tricky, as explained in the intro to this lesson: French verb conjugation translations.

Please be sure to keep all of that in mind as you look at the verb donner (to give) conjugated into every simple French verb form. I can’t list every possible translation, but this should give you a pretty good idea of how French and English verb conjugations fit together. For a more in-depth look, click the heading above any table for the detailed French lesson.

Present tense

		Simple present	Present progressive	Present emphatic
je donne		I give	I am giving	I do give
tu donnes		you give	you are giving	you do give
il donne		he gives	he is giving	he does give
elle donne		she gives	she is giving	she does give
nous donnons		we give	we are giving	we do give
vous donnez		you give	you are giving	you do give
ils donnent		they give	they are giving	they do give

Future

		Future	Future progressive
je donnerai		I will give	I will be giving
tu donneras		you will give	you will be giving
il donnera		he will give	he will be giving
elle donnera		she will give	she will be giving
nous donnerons		we will give	we will be giving
vous donnerez		you will give	you will be giving
ils donneront		they will give	they will be giving

Conditional

		Conditional	Conditional progressive
je donnerais		I would give	I would be giving
tu donnerais		you would give	you would be giving
il donnerait		he would give	he would be giving
elle donnerait		she would give	she would be giving
nous donnerions		we would give	we would be giving
vous donneriez		you would give	you would be giving
ils donneraient		they would give	they would be giving

Imperfect

		Past progressive
je donnais		I was giving	I used to give
tu donnais		you were giving	you used to give
il donnait		he was giving	he used to give
elle donnait		she was giving	she used to give
nous donnions		we were giving	we used to give
vous donniez		you were giving	you used to give
ils donnaient		they were giving	they used to give

Subjunctive

		Present / Subjunctive	Progressive
que je donne		that I give	that I am (be) giving
que tu donnes		that you give	that you are (be) giving
qu’il donne		that he gives	that he is (be) giving
qu’elle donne		that she gives	that she is (be) giving
que nous donnions		that we give	that we are (be) giving
que vous donniez		that you give	that you are (be) giving
qu’ils donnent		that they give	that they are (be) giving

Passé simple

		Simple past	Past emphatic
je donnai		I gave	I did give
tu donnas		you gave	you did give
il donna		he gave	he did give
elle donna		she gave	she did give
nous donnâmes		we gave	we did give
vous donnâtes		you gave	you did give
ils donnèrent		they gave	they did give

Imperfect subjunctive

		Simple past	Past progressive
que je donnasse		that I gave	that I was giving
que tu donnasses		that you gave	that you were giving
qu’il donnât		that he gave	that he was giving
qu’elle donnât		that she gave	that she was giving
que nous donnâmes		that we gave	that we were giving
que vous donnâtes		that you gave	that you were giving
qu’ils donnèrent		that they giae	that they were giving

More about translating French verb conjugations

• Introduction
• Translating simple conjugations
• Translating compound conjugations
• Translating imperatives, infinitives, and participles

 Related lessons

• Historical tenses
• Simple and compound French verb conjugations
• Translating modal verbs into French
• Translation exercises

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