Lexis Rex Home

Conjugation of the French verb penser

A list of the common conjugations for the French verb penser, along with their English translations.

penser is a regular verb

Verb phrases

Infinitive		Scored
penser	to think

Present		Scored
je pense	I think
tu penses	you think
il pense	he thinks
elle pense	she thinks
nous pensons	we think
vous pensez	you think
ils pensent	they think
elles pensent	they think

Imperfect		Scored
je pensais	I was thinking
tu pensais	you were thinking
il pensait	he was thinking
elle pensait	she was thinking
nous pensions	we were thinking
vous pensiez	you were thinking
ils pensaient	they were thinking
elles pensaient	they were thinking

Past Historic / Passé Simple This is a literary tense, i.e. a tense used in writing, in everyday speech the Passé Composé is used to refer to past actions.		Scored
je pensai	I thought
tu pensas	you thought
il pensa	he thought
elle pensa	she thought
nous pensâmes	we thought
vous pensâtes	you thought
ils pensèrent	they thought
elles pensèrent	they thought

Passé Composé		Scored
j'ai pensé	I have thought
tu as pensé	you have thought
il a pensé	he has thought
elle a pensé	she has thought
nous avons pensé	we have thought
vous avez pensé	you have thought
ils ont pensé	they have thought
elles ont pensé	they have thought

Pluperfect / Plus-que-parfait		Scored
j'avais pensé	I had thought
tu avais pensé	you had thought
il avait pensé	he had thought
elle avait pensé	she had thought
nous avions pensé	we had thought
vous aviez pensé	you had thought
ils avaient pensé	they had thought
elles avaient pensé	they had thought

Future		Scored
je penserai	I will think
tu penseras	you will think
il pensera	he will think
elle pensera	she will think
nous penserons	we will think
vous penserez	you will think
ils penseront	they will think
elles penseront	they will think

Future Perfect / Futur antérieur The French Future Perfect or Futur antérieur is made with the future tense of avoir or être and the past participle of the verb. The past participle agrees with the subject for verbs that take être, or with the direct object for verbs that take avoir.		Scored
j'aurai pensé	I will have thought
tu auras pensé	you will have thought
il aura pensé	he will have thought
elle aura pensé	she will have thought
nous aurons pensé	we will have thought
vous aurez pensé	you will have thought
ils auront pensé	they will have thought
elles auront pensé	they will have thought

Conditional		Scored
je penserais	I would think
tu penserais	you would think
il penserait	he would think
elle penserait	she would think
nous penserions	we would think
vous penseriez	you would think
ils penseraient	they would think
elles penseraient	they would think

Conditional Perfect / Conditionnel passé The French Conditional Perfect (the past conditional) or Conditionnel passé is made with the conditional tense of avoir or être and the past participle of the verb. The past participle agrees with the subject for verbs that take être, or with the direct object for verbs that take avoir.		Scored
j'aurais pensé	I would have thought
tu aurais pensé	you would have thought
il aurait pensé	he would have thought
elle aurait pensé	she would have thought
nous aurions pensé	we would have thought
vous auriez pensé	you would have thought
ils auraient pensé	they would have thought
elles auraient pensé	they would have thought

Present Subjunctive		Scored
(... que) je pense	(... that) I think
(... que) tu penses	(... that) you think
(... que) il pense	(... that) he thinks
(... que) elle pense	(... that) she thinks
(... que) nous pensions	(... that) we think
(... que) vous pensiez	(... that) you think
(... que) ils pensent	(... that) they think
(... que) elles pensent	(... that) they think

Imperfect Subjunctive		Scored
(... que) je pensasse	(... that) I was thinking
(... que) tu pensasses	(... that) you were thinking
(... que) il pensât	(... that) he was thinking
(... que) elle pensât	(... that) she was thinking
(... que) nous pensassions	(... that) we were thinking
(... que) vous pensassiez	(... that) you were thinking
(... que) ils pensassent	(... that) they were thinking
(... que) elles pensassent	(... that) they were thinking

Imperative		Scored
pense	Think
pensons	Let's think
pensez	Think

Present Participle		Scored
pensant	thinking

Past Participle		Scored
pensé	thought

Regular conjugation

Irregular conjugation

Spelling change

Learn these with

Multiple Choice

Missing Verb Game