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	Habitual past
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 gave	that they were giving