Présent
Present
What happens now or regularly: je parle français.
French verb conjugation
Pouvoir conjugation
Pouvoir — “can, to be able to”. Every tense with audio: tap a form to hear it, or the speaker to hear the whole tense.
- Translation
- can, to be able to
- Group
- modal verb
- Participe passé
- pu
- Passé composé with avoir
- j’ai pu
Pouvoir in every tense
Il / elle and ils / elles share the same forms. With être the participle agrees with the subject: (e) for the feminine, (e)s for the plural.
Your browser can’t read this language aloud — try Chrome, Safari or Edge.
Passé composé
Perfect (completed past)
What happened and is over: hier, j’ai vu un film. The main past tense of speech.
Imparfait
Imperfect (ongoing past)
Description, habit or background in the past: quand j’étais petit, je jouais au foot.
Futur simple
Future
What will be: demain, il fera beau. In speech aller + infinitive often replaces it.
Conditionnel présent
Conditional
Polite requests and imagined situations: je voudrais un café ; si j’avais le temps, je voyagerais.
Subjonctif présent
Subjunctive
After wishes, necessity and feelings: il faut que tu viennes. Always after que.
What to know
A modal verb: an infinitive follows it (je peux venir). A polite request uses the conditionnel: pourriez-vous m’aider ? There is no imperative.
Examples
- Je peux t’aider.I can help you.
- Nous n’avons pas pu venir.We couldn’t come.
- Tu pourras m’appeler demain.You can call me tomorrow.
Practice
A person and a tense — choose the right form of pouvoir. 10 questions.
Choose the form
FAQ
Didn’t find your answer? Send us a request — we’ll tell you everything.
How do you conjugate pouvoir in the présent?
je peux, tu peux, il/elle peut, nous pouvons, vous pouvez, ils/elles peuvent.
Does pouvoir take avoir or être in the passé composé?
Avoir: j’ai pu, tu as pu, il/elle a pu, nous avons pu, vous avez pu, ils/elles ont pu.
What is pouvoir in the imparfait?
je pouvais, tu pouvais, il/elle pouvait, nous pouvions, vous pouviez, ils/elles pouvaient.
What is pouvoir in the futur simple?
je pourrai, tu pourras, il/elle pourra, nous pourrons, vous pourrez, ils/elles pourront.
What’s next
French irregular verbs
The présent, passé composé and futur of irregular verbs in one table — with search and practice.
Open the table50 most common French words
The 50 most common French words with audio, examples and exercises.
See the wordsFrench level test
Grammar, vocabulary and reading from A1 to C1 — and your level of French.
Take the test
Grammar for this topic
Rules in plain words — with tables, examples and a quiz in every topic.
The présent tense
Je parle, nous finissons, vous faites — the endings of the three verb groups and the key irregulars.
Level A1Passé composé or imparfait
Two past tenses: what happened — and what it was like, what was going on.
Level A2–B1Futur proche and futur simple
Two ways to talk about the future: je vais partir and je partirai.
Level A1–A2The subjonctif: il faut que…
Il faut que tu viennes, je veux qu’il soit là — how to form the subjunctive and which words trigger it.
Level B1
Next step
Keep learning with a mini-course
Short online courses by Slay School teachers: a 15-minute lesson a day with audio, exercises and dialogues, and the words you forget come back on their own.
- Day 1 is free
- 15 minutes a day, at your own pace
- Every word has audio
- Lifetime access once paid
All you need to start is an email or a Google account.