The French for explain is the verb expliquer

Free Conjugation Tables

French for explain is the regular ER verb expliquer, displayed below in an easy to use tabular format which enables you to learn by subject pronoun, AND by tense. Most verb tables only allow you to learn only by tense, one tense at a time.

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By far the best way to learn and remember verbs such as the French for explain - expliquer there is no more powerful technique than the use of word-picture cartoons like the 200 Words a Day! Memory joggers.

So, if you want to know how to say explain in French, how to express the verb in all the main tenses, here it is.

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The 6 Simple Tenses of the conjugated verb expliquer - French for explain

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Here you’ll learn the conjugations of expliquer, which is French for explain.

• I explain.
• you explained.
• he will explain.
• we would explain.
• they may explain.

The Verb Conjugation Tables below for expliquer, enable you to practise your French verb drills both by PRONOUN (vertically), and by TENSE (horizontally). Do both many times over.

VERB CONJUGATION TABLE expliquer
Simple Tenses expliquer
TENSE	je/j’	tu	il	nous	vous	ils
Present Présent explain	explique	expliques	explique	expliquons	expliquez	expliquent
Past Imperfect Imparfait explained	expliquais	expliquais	expliquait	expliquions	expliquiez	expliquaient
Simple Past Passé Simple explained	expliquai	expliquas	expliqua	expliquâmes	expliquâtes	expliquèrent
Future Futur will explain	expliquerai	expliqueras	expliquera	expliquerons	expliquerez	expliqueront
Conditional Conditionnel would explain	expliquerais	expliquerais	expliquerait	expliquerions	expliqueriez	expliqueraient
Subjunctive Subjonctif may explain	explique	expliques	explique	expliquions	expliquiez	expliquent
Compound Tenses expliquer
Present Perfect Passé Composé have explained	ai expliqué	as expliqué	a expliqué	avons expliqué	avez expliqué	ont expliqué
Past Perfect Plus-que-Parfait had explained	avais expliqué	avais expliqué	avait expliqué	avions expliqué	aviez expliqué	avaient expliqué
Future Perfect Futur Antérieur will have	aurai expliqué	auras expliqué	aura expliqué	aurons expliqué	aurez expliqué	auront expliqué
Conditional Perfect Conditionnel Passé would have explained	aurais expliqué	aurais expliqué	aurait expliqué	aurions expliqué	auriez expliqué	auraient expliqué
Imperative Imperatif explain!		explique		expliquons	expliquez

Present Indicative Tense conjugations of expliquer the French for explain
présent de l’indicatif

j’explique
- I explain
tu expliques
- you explain - (familiar or informal)
il, elle, on explique
- he, she, it, one explains
nous expliquons
- we explain
vous expliquez
- you explain (formal or plural)
ils, elles expliquent
- they explain

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Imperfect Indicative Tense conjugations of expliquer, the French for explain
imparfait de l’indicatif

j’expliquais
- I explained
- I was explaining
tu expliquais
- you explained- (familiar or informal)
- you were explaining
il, elle, on expliquait
- he, she, it, one explained
- he, she, it, one was explaining
nous expliquions
- we explained
- we were explaining
vous expliquiez
- you explained- (formal or plural)
- you were explaining
ils, elles expliquaient
- they explained
- they were explaining

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Simple Past or Past Definite Tense conjugations of expliquer, the French for explain
passé simple

j’expliquai
- I explained
tu expliquas
- you explained- (familiar or informal)
il, elle, on expliqua
- he, she, it, one explained
nous expliquâmes
- we explained
vous expliquâtes
- you explained- (formal or plural)
ils, elles expliquèrent
they explained
(The passé simple tense is mainly used in literature and books, and is rarely used in spoken French language).

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Future Tense conjugations of expliquer, the French for explain
futur

j’expliquerai
- I will explain
tu expliqueras
- you will explain (familiar or informal)
il, elle, on expliquera
- he, she, it, one will explain
nous expliquerons
- we will explain
vous expliquerez
- you will explain (formal or plural)
ils, elles expliqueront
- they will explain

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Conditional Tense conjugations of expliquer, the French for explain
conditionnel

j’expliquerais
- I would explain
tu expliquerais
- you would explain (familiar or informal)
il, elle, on expliquerait
- he, she, it, one would explain
nous expliquerions
- we would explain
vous expliqueriez
- you would explain (formal or plural)
ils, elles expliqueraient
- they would explain

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Present Subjunctive Tense conjugations of expliquer, the French for explain
présent de subjonctif

que j’explique
- that I may explain
que tu expliques
- that you may explain(familiar or informal)
qu’il, qu’elle, qu’on explique
- that he, she, it, one may explain
que nous expliquions
- that we may explain
que vous expliquiez
- that you may explain(formal or plural)
qu’ils, qu’elles expliquent
- that they may explain

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The Four Compound Tenses of the French for verb expliquer - the verb ‘to explain’ in French

Past Participle of expliquer is:
expliqué -explained.

The compound tenses are past tenses that are formed with the conjugations of avoir and the past participle. The key to these is in learning avoir inside out. You'll note these tenses in regular useage. Do our tables every day, building more and more verbs, and you'll be well on the way to mastering these tenses.

• I have explained
• you had explained
• he will have explained
• we would have explained

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Compound Past, Present Perfect or Past Indefinite Tense conjugations of expliquer - French for explain
passé composé

Here’s the French for explain conjugated with all the pronouns in the present perfect tense.
j’ai expliqué
- I have explained or I did explain or
- I explained
tu as expliqué
- you have explained or you did explain - (familiar or informal) or
- you explained
il, elle, on a expliqué
- he, she, it, one has explain or did explain
- he, she, it explained
nous avons expliqué
- we have explained or we did explain
- we explained
vous avez expliqué
- you have explained or you did explain (formal or plural) or
- or we explained
ils, elles ont expliqué
- they have explained or they did explain
- they explained

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Past Perfect Indicative or Pluperfect Tense conjugations of expliquer - explain in French
plus-que-parfait de l’indicatif

Here’s the French for -explain conjugated with all the pronouns in the past perfect tense.
j’avais expliqué
- I had explained
tu avais expliqué
- you had explained- (familiar or informal)
il, elle, on avait expliqué
- he, she, it, one had explained
nous avions expliqué
- we had explained
vous aviez expliqué
- you had explained (formal or plural)
ils, elles avaient expliqué
- they had explained

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Future Perfect or Future Anterior Tense conjugations of expliquer, the French for explain
futur antérieur

j’aurai expliqué
- I will have
tu auras expliqué
- you will have - (familiar or informal)
il, elle, on aura expliqué
- he, she, it, one will have
nous aurons expliqué
- we will have
vous aurez expliqué
- you will have - (formal or plural)
ils, elles auront expliqué
- they will have

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Conditional Perfect Tense conjugations of expliquer, the French for explain
conditionnel passé

j’aurais expliqué
- I would have explained
tu aurais expliqué
- you would have explained- (familiar or informal)
il, elle, on aurait expliqué
- he, she, it, one would have explained
nous aurions expliqué
- we would have explained
vous auriez expliqué
- you would have explained- (formal or plural)
ils, elles auraient expliqué
- they would have explained

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Imperative Tense conjugations of expliquer, the French for explain
impératif

explique
- explain!
expliquons
- let’s explain!
expliquez
- explain!

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Present Participle of expliquer

expliquant - explaining

Menu of Conjugated French verbs like expliquer the French for explain

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