Verbes communs et conjugaisons-Fracias

 

Savoir Conjugation: How To Conjugate “To Know” In French

The conjugation of savoir (Meaning: To know in French; Pronunciation savwaʀ) is: Je sais (I know), tu sais (you know), il/elle sait (he/she knows), nous savons (we know), vous savez (you know), ils/elles savent (they know). This post provides conjugation charts for savoir in six major verb tenses.

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Savoir is an irregular ir verb. This means that its endings in the present tense are different to other regular -ir verbs, such as finir (to finish).

In this post we’ve covered the following major tenses:

·         present (le présent)

·         passé composé (compound past)

·         imperfect (l’imparfait)

·         future (le futur simple)

·         conditional (le conditionnel)

·         subjunctive (le subjonctif)

The past participle of savoir is su (knew, found out) and the present participle is savant (knowing).

Savoir means “to know” in the context of knowing facts. For example, je sais que le ciel est bleu (I know the sky is blue).

The French use the verb connaître for knowing people, places and areas of study. For example, Je connais Sylvie (I know Sylvie).

This page on our site provides complete conjugation tables for connaître with explanations and example sentences.

When followed by an infinitive, savoir can also mean “to know how to”. For example, je sais chanter (I know how to sing).

This page on our site explores savoir vs. connaître in detail and provides many example sentences.

Savoir conjugation table

The following table offers a quick snapshot of savoir conjugated in six major French verb tenses. Below you’ll find more detailed charts with example sentences.

 

Savoir conjugation charts

Present tense (le présent)

In the present tense, je sais means “I know”.

Je sais	I know	Je sais que tu parles français!	I know you speak French!
Tu sais	You know (familiar, singular)	Tu sais où j'habite.	You know where I live.
Il/elle sait	He/she knows	Elle sait faire du ski.	She knows how to ski.
Nous savons	We know	Nous savons la vérité.	We know the truth.
Vous savez	You know (formal, plural)	Vous savez les résultats.	You know the results.
Ils/elles savent	They know	Ils savent que nous sommes ici.	They know we are here.

In the following video, online French teacher Alexa explains how to pronounce savoir when conjugated in the present tense:

 

Passé composé (compound past)

The passé composé is a commonly used French past tense. In the passe composé, j’ai su can translate to “I knew” and “I found out”.

J'ai su	I knew	J'ai su le faire.	I knew how to do it.
Tu as su	You know (familiar, singular)	Tu as su la difference.	You knew the difference.
Il/elle a su	He/she knew	Il a su les résultats.	He found out the results.
Nous avons su	We knew	Nous avons su leur réponse.	We knew their answer.
Vous avez su	You know (formal, plural)	Vous avez su que c'était vrai.	You knew it was true.
Ils/elles ont su	They knew	Ils ont su avant la fin du mois.	They knew before the end of the month.

Imperfect (l’imparfait)

The French use the imperfect (l’imparfait) tense to describe past events which occurred at unspecified times. Je savais translates to “I knew” as in “I knew all along”.

Je savais	I knew	Je savais que c'était une bonne idée.	I knew it was a good idea.
Tu savais	You know (familiar, singular)	Pourquoi est-ce que tu ne savais pas?	Why didn't you know?
Il/elle savait	He/she knew	Elle savait la réponse depuis tres longtemps.	She knew the answer for a very long time.
Nous savions	We knew	Nous ne savions pas la difference entre l'accent aigu et l'accent grave.	We didn't know the difference between the acute accent and the grave accent.
Vous saviez	You knew (formal, plural)	Comment est-ce que vous saviez?	How did you know?
Ils/elles savaient	They knew	Ils savaient pourquoi je suis venu en France.	They knew why I came to France.

 

 

Future (le futur simple)

The French future tense (le futur simple) is used to describe future actions. The verb savoir has an irregular future stem: saur-. Hence, je saurai translates to “I will know” or “I will find out”.

Je saurai	I will know	Je saurai leur réponse demain.	I will knew their response tomorrow.
Tu sauras	You will know (familiar, singular)	Quand est-ce que tu sauras leur réponse?	When will you know their answer?
Il/elle saura	He/she will know	Je pense qu'elle saura demain.	I think she'll know tomorrow.
Nous saurons	We will know	Nous ne saurons pas jusqu'à la fin de l'année.	We won't know until the end of the year.
Vous saurez	You will know (formal, plural)	Quand est-ce que vous saurez?	When will you know?
Ils/elles sauront	They will know	Pensez-vous qu'ils sauront le faire?	Do you think they'll know how to do it?

Conditional (le conditionnel)

In French, the conditional tense (le conditionnel) is used to express hypothetical (would) situations. Hence, je saurais translates literally to “I would know”.

 

When inverted as a question, sauriez-vous and saurais-tu can translate to “Would you happen to know?”.

Je saurais	I would know	Je ne saurais pas te le dire.	I would not know how to tell you.
Tu saurais	You would know (informal, singular)	Saurais-tu ou se trouvent les clés?	Would you happen to know where are the keys?
Il/elle saurait	He/she would know	Saurait-elle la réponse?	Would she happen to know the answer?
Nous saurions	We would know	Nous ne saurions pas si c'est vrai ou faux.	We wouldn't know if it's true or false.
Vous sauriez	You would know (formal, plural)	Sauriez-vous à quelle heure le train arrive?	Would you happen to know at what time the train is arriving?
Ils/elles sauraient	They would know	Sauraient-ils la décision?	Would they happen to know the decision?

Subjunctive (le subjonctif)

The French languages uses the subjunctive mood to expression thoughts of wish, emotion and doubt. Que je sache translates to “that I know”.

Que je sache	that I know	Il faut que sache la vérité.	I need to know the truth.
Que tu saches	that you know (familiar, singular)	Je doute que tu saches où j'habite.	I doubt you know where I live.
Qu'il/elle sache	that he/she knows	Je ne pense pas qu'il sache le faire.	I don't think he knows how to do it.
Que nous sachions	that we know	Il faut que nous sachions où louer la voiture.	We need to know where to rent the car.
Que vous sachiez	that you know (formal, plural)	Il vaut mieux que vous sachiez quelques verbes!	It would be better that you know some verbs.
Qu'ils/elles sachent	that they know	Je doute qu'ils sachent ce qui s'est passé.	I doubt they know what happened.

 

 

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Être Conjugation: How To Conjugate The Verb To Be In French

 

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Avoir Conjugation: How To Conjugate To Have In French

 

·        

Pouvoir Conjugation French

 

Voir Conjugation: How To Conjugate “To See” In French

The conjugation of voir (Meaning: To see in French; Pronunciation; vwaʀ) is: Je vois (I see), tu vois (you see), il/elle voit (he/she sees), nous voyons (we see), vous voyez (you see) and ils/elles voient (they see). This post will provide conjugation charts for voir in six major tense with example sentences.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Voir is an irregular French -ir verb. This means that its endings in the present tense are different to other regular verbs in the -ir group, such as finir (to finish).

The past participle is voir is vu (saw). We’ll elaborate more on this below in the passé composé section.

We’ve covered the following six major tenses on this page:

·         Le present (present tense)

·         Le passe compose (compound past)

·         L’imparfait (imperfect)

·         Le futur simple (simple future)

·         Le conditionnel (conditional)

·         Le subjoncdtif (subjunctive)

Voir conjugation table

Before getting into the charts with example sentences we’ll first take a quick look the conjugation table of voir.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Voir conjugation charts

Present tense (present indicative)

In the present tense (le présent), je vois translates to both “I see” and “I am seeing”.

Je vois	I see	Je vois le chien.	I see the dog.
Tu vois	You see (familiar, singular)	Tu vois le chat.	You see that cat.
Il/elle voit	He/she sees	Elle voit les montagnes.	She sees the mountains.
Nous voyons	We see	Nous voyons la voiture.	We see the car.
Vous voyez	You see (formal, plural)	Vous voyez la plage.	You see the beach.
Ils/elles voient	They see	Ils voient leurs amis.	They see their friends.

Compound past (passé composé)

The passe composé is a frequently used French past tense to describe actions which occurred a specific point in time. J’ai vu translates to “I saw”.

 

J'ai vu	I saw	J'ai vu le film.	I saw the movie.
Tu as vu	You saw (familiar, singular)	J'ai vu le prof dans la salle de classe.	I saw the teacher in the classroom.
Il/elle a vu	He/she saw	Elle a vu un bon ami.	She saw a good freind.
Nous avons vu	We saw	Nous avons vu l'étoile.	We saw the star.
Vous avez vu	You saw (formal, plural)	Vous avez vu ma femme.	You saw my wife.
Ils/elles ont vu	They saw	Ils ont vu un oiseau.	They saw a bird.

Imperfect indicative (imparfait)

The imparfait (imperfect) is another commonly used French past tense used to describe actions which occurred at unspecified points in time. Je voyais translates to “I used to see” and “I was seeing”.

The verb voir conjugated in the imperfect tense in French does not lend itself very well to sample sentences. Hence, we’ve just included the conjugation and English equivalents below.

Je voyais	I used to see, was seeing
Tu voyais	You used to see, were seeing (familiar, singular)
Il/elle voyait	He/she used to see, was seeing
Nous voyons	We used to see, were seeing
Vous voyez	You used to see, were seeing (formal, plural)
Ils/elles voyaient	They used to see, were seeing

 

 

 

Simple future (futur simple)

The futur simple tense is used to express events which will occur in the future. Voir has an irregular stem in the future simple: -verr. Je verrai translates to “I will see”.

Interestingly when using with the third-person singular pronoun on, meaning “one” or “we”, on verra translates to “we’ll see” as in “we’ll see what happens”.

Je verrai	I will see	Je verrai mes amis.	I will see my friends.
Tu verras	You will see (familiar, singular)	Tu verras les résutats.	You will see the results.
Il/elle verra	He/she will see	Elle verra le lever du soleil.	She will see the sunrise.
Nous verrons	We will see	Nous verrons plus tard.	We will see later.
Vous verrez	You will see (formal, plural)	Vous verrez une tempête de neige.	You will see a snow storm.
Ils/elles verront	They will see	Ils verront de bonnes conditions de ski.	They will see good ski conditions.

Conditional mood (présent du conditionnel)

In French, le conditionnel is used to express hypothetical events which “would” occur. Je verrais translates to “I would see”.

Je verrais	I would see	Je verrais le spectacle si javais un billet.	I would see the show if I had a ticket.
Tu verrais	You would see (familiar, singular)	Tu verrais ton ami si tu avais le temps.	You'd see your friend if you had time.
Il/elle verrait	He/she would see	Elle verrait ses amis si elle avait une voiture.	She would see her friends if she had a car.
Nous verrions	We would see	Nous verrions nos amis si nous avions le temps libre.	We'd see our friends if we had free time.
Vous verriez	You would see (formal, plural)	Vous verriez le film si le cinéma était ouvert.	You'd see the movie if the cinema was open.
Ils/elles verraient	They would see	Ils verraient l'émission s'ils avaient une télévision.	They'd see the show if they had a TV.

Present subjunctive (subjonctif)

The French use the subjunctive mood to express wishes, emotions and doubts. Que je vois translates to “that I see”.

Que je voie	that I see	Il faut que je voie ce film.	I need to see this film.
Que tu voies	that you see (familiar, singular)	Je veux que tu voies sa réaction.	I want you to see see his reaction.
Qu'il/elle voie	that he/she sees	Je doute qu'elle voie la vérité.	I doubt she sees the truth.
Que nous voyions	that we see	Il faut que nous voyions les résultats.	We need to see the results.
Que vous voyiez	that you see (formal, plural)	Je suis heureux que vous voyiez un changement.	I'm happy you're seeing a change.
Qu'ils voient	that they see	Il faut qu'ils voient si c'est possible.	They have to see if it's possible.

 

Voir – Summary video

In the following video online teacher, Alexa, summarizes the conjugations for voir in the present, past and future tenses and provides lots of example sentences.

Manger Conjugation: How To Conjugate “To Eat” In French

 

 

 

 

 

Parler Conjugation: How To Conjugate “To Speak” In French

By David Issokson • January 10, 2023 • Updated June 28, 2023

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Conjugation charts for parler (to speak, talk) in French

The French verb parler means “to speak” and “to talk”. The conjugation of parler in the present tense is: je parle (I speak), tu parles (you speak), il/elle parle (he/she speaks), nous parlons (we speak), vous parlez (you speak, formal and plural) and ils/elles parlent (they speak.

 

 

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The verb parler is often the first verbs students learn. Parler is a regular -er verb. This means that its endings are the exact same as all other “regular” verbs that end in -er in the infinitive form.

This page on our site covers regular verbs in detail. For now we’ll look at parler in detail, observing its conjugations in nine major tenses necessary for speaking fluently: the present, passé composé, passé simple, imperfect, future, conditional, subjunctive and the imperative mood.

Parler conjugation chart

Before we go any further, let’s take a look at the verb conjugation charts of parler. Further down the page we’ve presented conjugation tables with example sentences.

 

Parler conjugation tables with example sentences

In the following section we’ll look at conjugation of parler in six major French verb tenses. This page on our site provides a useful explanation of six verb tenses that are necessary to speak fluently.

Present tense

In the present tense, je parle translates to both “I speak” and “I am speaking”.

 

Je parle	I speak	Je parle français.	I speak French.
Tu parles	You speak (familiar singular)	Tu parles bien.	You speak well.
Il/elle parle	He/she speaks	Elle parle espagnol.	She speaks Spanish.
Nous parlons	We speak	Nous parlons de Pierre.	We're talking about Pierre.
Vous parlez	You speak (formal, plural)	Vous parlez trop fort.	You're speaking too loudly.
Ils/elles parlent	They speak	Ils parlent ensemble.	They're speaking together.

The following YouTube video by Alexa does a great job teaching the pronunciation of parler when conjugated in the present tense.

Passé composé

The second tense we’ll look at is the passé composé, a commonly used French past tense. This page on our site covers the passé composé in detail.

J'ai parlé	I spoke	J'ai parlé à Pierre.	I spoke to Pierre.
Tu as parlé	You spoke (informal singular)	Tu as parlé au téléphone.	You spoke on the phone.
Il/elle a parlé	He/she spoke	Il a parlé à sa mère.	He spoke to his mother.
Nous avons parlé	We spoke	Nous avons parlé hier.	We spoke yesterday.
Vous avez parlé	You spoke (formal, plural)	Vous avez parlé au patron.	You spoke to the boss.
Ils/elles ont parlé	They spoke	Ils ont parlé aux enfants.	They spoke to the kids.

Passé simplé

The passé simplé is a past tense that appears mainly in literature. It is grammatically equivalent to the passé composé.

 

Je parlai	I spoke	Je parlai au téléphone avec ton père.	I spoke on the phone with your father.
Tu parlas	You spoke (informal, singular)	Tu parlas beaucoup mais tu ne rien dis.	You spoke a lot but didn't say anything.
Il, elle parla	He, she spoke	Elle para à son fils cinq fois.	She spoke to her son five times.
Nous parlâmes	We spoke	Nous parlâmes ensemble au restaurant.	We spoke together at the restaurant.
Vous parlâtes	You spoke (formal, singular)	Vous parlâtes avec toute la famille.	You spoke with the entire family.
Ils, elles parlèrent	They spoke	Ils ne parlèrent pas du sujet.	They didn't speak about the subject.

Imperfect tense

The imperfect tense, or imparfait is another commonly used French past these. Je parlais can translate to both “I spoke” and “I used to speak”. This page on our site covers the imperfect tense in detail.

Je parlais	I used to speak, was speaking	Je parlais à Martin quand tu es arrivé.	I was speaking to Martin when you arrived.
Tu parlais	You used to speak, were speaking (informal singular)	Tu parlais allemand quand tu étais un enfant.	You used to speak German when you were a child.
Il/elle parlait	He/she used to speak, were speaking	Elle parlait français pendant son enfance.	She used to speak French during her childhood.
Nous parlions	We used to speak, were speaking	Nous parlions de vous quand vous avez téléphoné.	We were talking about you when you called.
Vous parliez	You used to speak, were speaking (plural, formal)	Vous parliez couramment avant.	You used to speak fluently.
Ils/elles parlaient	They used to speak, were speaking	Avant ils se parlaient tout le temps.	They used to speak to each other all the time.

Future tense

The following table is of parler conjugated in the futur simple tense. This page on our site covers the two main French future tenses.

 

Je parlerai	I will speak	Un jour, je parlerai couramment.	I will speak fluently some day.
Tu parleras	You will speak (singular informal)	Un jour, tu parleras le japonais.	Someday you will speak Japanese.
Il/elle parlera	He/she will speak	Il parlera avec sa femme.	He will speak with his wife.
Nous parlerons	We will speak	Nous parlerons au patron.	We will speak to the boss.
Vous parlerez	You will speak (formal, plural)	Vous parlerez du projet.	You will speak about the project.
Ils/elles parleront	They will speak	Ils parleront après le cours.	They will speak after the class.

Futur proche

The futur proche, or the near future tense, equates to “going to” in English. It is formed by combining the present tense of aller (to go) with the infinitive. Je vais parler translates to “I am going to speak”.

 

Je vais parler	I am going to speak	Je vais paler à ton frère.	I'm going to speak to your brother.
Tu vas parler	You are going to speak (familiar, singular)	Tu vas parler de ton voyage.	You're going to talk about your trip.
Il, elle va parler	He, she is going to speak	Elle va parler à ses enfants.	She's going to speak to her kids.
Nous allons parler	We are going to speak	Nous allons parler du nouveau projet.	We're going to talk about the new project.
Vous allez parler	You are going to speak (formal, plural)	Vous allez parler très couramment un jour.	You are going to speak very fluently some day.
Ils, elles vont parler	They are going to speak	Ils vont parler des nouvelles solutions.	They're going to talk about the new solutions.

Conditional tense

The conditional tense is the “would tense”. Hence, je parlerais means “I would speak”. This page on our site covers the conditional tense in detail.

Je parlerais	I would speak	Je parlerais à Jean si j'avais le temps.	I would speak to Jean if I had the time.
Tu parlerais	You would speak (singular, informal)	Tu parlerais le français si tu étudiais un peu.	You would speak French if you studied a bit.
Il/elle parlerait	He/she would speak	Il parlerait le chinois s'il habitait en Chine.	He would speak Chinese if he lived in China.
Nous parlerions	We would speak	Nous parlerions ensemble mais ce n'est pas possible.	We would speak together but it's no possible.
Vous parleriez	You would speak (formal, plural)	Vous parleriez l'espsgnol si vous habitez au Mexique.	You would speak Spanish if you lived in Mexico.
Ils/elles parleraient	They would speak	Ils se parleraient plus souvent mais ils n'ont pas le temps.	They would speak to each other more often but they don't have the time.

Subjunctive mood

The following table shows the conjugations for parler in the subjunctive mood, which is a tense that’s often used for expressing wishes, emotions and doubts.

 

que je parle	that I speak	Il faut que je parle français en France.	I have to speak French in France.
que tu parles	that you speak (singular, informal)	Je veux que tu parles plus fort.	I want to to speak louder.
qu'il/elle parle	that he/she speaks	Je doute qu'elle parle le chinois.	I doubt she speaks Chinese.
que nous parlions	that we speak	Il faut que nous parlions demain.	We need to speak tomorrow.
que vous parliez	that you speak (plural, formal)	Je suis heureux que vous parliez ensemble.	I am happy you are speaking together.
qu'ils/elles parlent	that they speak	Je suis ravi qu'ils parlent le japonais.	I'm delighted they speak Japanese.

Imperative mood

The imperative mood is used for giving commands. Parle! translates to “speak!”.

Parle!	Speak! (informal, singular)	Parle plus fort!	Speak louder!
Parlons!	Let's speak!	Parlons français!	Let's speak French!
Parlez!	Speak! (formal, plural)	Parlez moins fort!	Speak softer!

Suggested resource:

One of the most daunting areas that all beginners face is figuring out the right approach to learning French verb conjugations. I have been working with Camille from Frenchtoday.com since 2016 and strongly suggest looking at her post entitled The Secret To Mastering French Verb Conjugation.

 

Discover more conjugation charts with example sentences

·         Être (to be)

·         Avoir (to have)

·         Aller (to go)

·         Faire (to make, to do)

·         Vouloir (to want)

·         Pouvoir (can, to be able)

·         Aimer (to like, to love)

·         Boire (to drink)

·         Manger (to eat)

 

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Vouloir Conjugation: How To Conjugate To Want In French

Vouloir is one of the essential verbs to master in the French language. The meaning of vouloir is “to want”. The conjugation of vouloir in the present tense is: Je veux (I want), tu veux (you want), il/elle veut (he/she wants), nous voulons (we want), vous voulez (you want) and ils/elles veulent (they want).

How to pronounce vouloir

The pronunciation of vouloir (to want) is: “voo-lwahr” or vulwaʀ. In the following video you can watch my good YouTube friend, Vincent, pronouncing vouloir. In addition, this page on Forvo offers some very good audio samples of vouloir.

 

Vouloir Conjugation Chart

Vouloir conjugation chart – Six major tenses

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Vouloir present tense conjugation

The following table contains the conjugation of vouloir in the present tense (le présent de l’indicatif). You will see in the example sentences (for all the tenses on this page) that vouloir can be followed by an infinitive (“to” form of the verb) or a noun.

French	English	Examples
Je veux	I want	Je veux du fromage. I want some cheese.
Tu veux	You you (familar)	Tu veux de la glace. You want some ice cream.
Il, elle, on veut	He, she, one wants	Elle veut apprendre le français. She wants to learn French.
Nous voulons	We want	Nous voulons partir demain. We want to leave tomorrow.
Vous voulez	You want (formal, plural)	Vous voulez commander une pizza. You want to order a pizza.
Ils, elles veulent	They want	Ils veulent aller à Chamonix. They want to go to Chamonix.

The following video from Français Facile does a great job teaching the present tense conjugation of vouloir.

Vouloir – present tense negation

The following table covers vouloir using short sentences in the negation. In the negation, the partitive article (some in English) becomes “de”. For example, the affirmative “Je veux du fromage” (I want some cheese) becomes “Je en veux pas de fromage” (I don’t want any cheese). This rule is covered in detail towards the bottom of this page.

English	French	Examples
Je veux pas	I don't want	Je ne veux pas de légumes. I don't want any vegetables.
Tu ne veux pas	You don't want (informal)	Tu ne veux pas partir. You don't want to leave.
Il, elle, on ne veut pas	He, she, one doesn't want	Elle ne veut pas travailler aujourd'hui. She doesn't want to work today.
Nous ne voulons pas	We don't want	Nous ne voulons pas apprendre ce mot. We don't want to learn this word.
Vous ne voulez pas	You dont want (formal, plural)	Vous ne voulez pas acheter la voiture. You won't want to buy the car.
Ils, elles ne veulent pas	They don't want	Ils ne veulent pas de viande. They don't want any meat.

 

Vouloir passé composé conjugation

French has two main tenses for the past tense: The passé composé (used for past actions that occurred at a specific point in time) and the imperfect (used for past actions that occurred at undefined moments of time).

The following table covers vouloir in the passé composé (called both the compound past and past indefinite in English). This page offers a complete explanation of this tense. The verb vouloir uses avoir (to have) as its auxiliary (or helping) verb in the passé composé. The past participle of vouloir in the passé composé is “voulu”.

In the passé composé, all sentences vouloir have an underlying meaning or understanding of willingness. In the negation, the sentences have an underlying meaning of not wanting or unwillingness.

French	English	Examples
J'ai voulu	I wanted to	Je n'ai pas voulu vendre la voiture. I didn't want to sell the car.
Tu as voulu	You wanted to (familiar)	Tu n'as pas voulu m'aider. You didn't want to help me.
Il, elle, on a voulu	He, she, one wanted to	Il n'a pas voulu etudier entre les leçons. He didn't want to study between the lessons.
Nous avons voulu	We wanted to	Nous avons voulu acheter les billets. We wanted to buy the tickets.
Vous avez voulu	You wanted to (formal, plural)	Vous avez voulu travailler dans le jardin. You wanted to work in the yard.
Ils, elles ont voulu	They wanted to	Ils ont voulu apprendre l'italien. They wanted to learn Italian.

Vouloir imperfect conjugation

In the imperfect tense (called l’imparfait in French), “Je voulais” translated to “I wanted”. You’d use this to describe things you wanted to or didn’t want to do in the past. This page on our site covers the imperfect tense in detail.

French	English	Example
Je voulais	I wanted to	Je ne voulais pas partir. I didn't wanted to.
Tu voulais	You wanted to (familiar)	Tu ne voulait pas commencer. You didn't want to begin.
Il, elle, on voulait	He, she, one wanted to	Il voulait acheter la maison. He wanted to buy the house.
Nous voulions	We wanted to	Nous ne voulions pas louer la chambre. We didn't want to rent the room.
Vous vouliez	You wanted to (formal, plural)	Vous vouliez passer trois mois dans les Alpes. You wanted to spend there months in the Alps.
Ils, elles voulaient	They wanted to	Ils voulaient louer l'appartement. They wanted to rent the apartment.

Vouloir conjugation in the future tense

This next section will look at vouloir conjugated in the future tenses. French has two main future tenses: the futur simple (used for actions which aren’t 100% certain) and futur proche (used for much more certain future actions. The page covers the French future tense in great detail.

Vouloir – futur proche

The futur proche combines a aller (to go) conjugated in the present tense with the infinitive. For example “Je vais vouloir” means I’m going to want. The page covers the conjugation of aller in detail.

French	English	Examples
Je vais vouloir	I'm going to want to	Je vais vouloir partir de bonne heure. I'm going to want to leave early.
Tu vas vouloir	You're going to want to (familiar)	Tu vas vouloir te coucher tôt. You're going to want to go to bed early.
Il, elle, on va vouloir	He, she, one is going to want to	Elle va vouloir vendre la maison. She's going to want to sell the house.
Nous allons vouloir	We are going to want to	Nous allons vouloir partir demain. We're going to want to leave tomorrow.
Vous allez vouloir	You are going to want to (formal, plural)	Vous allez vouloir apprendre tous les verbes. You're going to want to learn all the verbs.
Ils, elles vont vouloir	They are going to want to	Ils vont vouloir voyager en France. They're going to want to travel to France.

Vouloir – futur simple

The following table contains vouloir conjugated in the futur simple tense. This is also simply called the future tense.

French	English	Examples
Je voudrai	I will want	Je voudrai partir demain. I will want to leave tomorrow.
Tu voudras	You will want (familiar)	Tu voudras passer la journée à Paris. You're going to want to spend the day in Paris.
Il, elle, on voudra	He, she, one will want	Elle voudra louer un vélo. She will want to rent a bike.
Nous voudrons	We will want	Nous voudrons assister au spectacle. We will want to attend a show.
Vous voudrez	You will want (formal, plural)	Vous voudrez acheter tous les livres. You are going to want to buy all the books.
Ils, elles voudront	They will want	Ils voudront partiquer le français. They will want to practice French.

Vouloir conjugation in the conditional

The French conditional (called le conditionnel in French) is the “would” tense. The page covers the conditional in detail. When conjugated in the conditional tense, “je voudrais”, for example, translates to “I would like”. Actually, we have an entire lesson covering “je voudrais”.

English	French	Examples
Je voudrais	I would like to	Je voudrais parler couramment. I would like to speak fluently.
Tu voudrais	You would like to (familiar)	Tu voudrais maîtriser le verbe vouloir. You'd like to master the verb vouloir.
Il, elle, on voudrait	He, she, one would like to	Il voudrait acheter une grande maison. He'd like to buy a big house.
Nous voudrions	We would like to	Nous voudrions faire du ski en France. We'd like to ski in France.
Vous voudriez	You would like to (formal, plural)	Vous voudriez manger une pizza. You'd like to eat a pizza.
Ils, elles voudraient	They would like to	Elles voudraient regarder un film. They'd like to watch a movie.

 

Vouloir past conditional conjugation

The past conditional (le passé du conditionnel) is considered an advanced tense. However, vouloir in the past conditional is very useful for expressing regrets.

“J’aurais voulu” translates to “I would have wanted”. The past conditional for vouloir is formed by combining avoir as auxiliary verb in the present conditional with the past participle voulu.

English	French	Examples
J'aurais voulu	I would have wanted to	J'aurais voulu partir un peu plus tôt. I would have wanted to leave a bit earlier.
Tu aurais voulu	You would have wanted to (familiar)	Tu aurais voulu apprendre l'espagnol avant le français. You would have wanted to learn Spanish before French.
Il, elle, on aurait voulu	He, she, one would have wanted to	Il aurait voulu acheter la maison il y a 5 ans. He would have wanted to buy the house five years ago.
Nous aurions voulu	We would have wanted to	Nous aurions voulu acheter les billets en avance. We would have wanted to buy the tickets in advance.
Vous auriez voulu	You would have wanted to (formal, plural)	Vous auriez voulu vendre la masion. You would have wanted to sell the house.
Ils, elles auraient voulu	They would have wanted to	Ils auraient voulu commencer à 8h00. They would have wanted to start at 8am.

Vouloir conjugation in the subjunctive mood

The following table contains the verb vouloir conjugated in the subjunctive mood. The French subjunctive is used for expressing wishes, emotions and doubts. This page on our site covers the subjunctive in detail.

While vouloir isn’t very commonly used in the subjunctive, it’s still good to know the conjugation. Note that the nous and vous forms have two spellings.

French	English
que je veuille	that I want
que tu veuilles	that you want (familiar)
qu'il, elle, on veuille	that he, she, one wants
que nous voulions / euillions	that we want
que vous vouliez / euilliez	that you want (formal, plural)
qu'ils, elles veuillent	that they want

Vouloir conjugation in the imperative mood

The French imperative mood is used for giving commands. Similar to the above subjunctive, vouloir isn’t very useful in the imperative.

However, it is still good to know the verb endings. This page covers the French imperative in detail. Note that there are dual spellings for vouloir in the imperative.

French	English
Veux! / Veuille! (tu form)	Want!
Voulons! / Veuillons! (nous form)	Let's want!
Voulez! / Veuillez! (vous form)	Want!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Pouvoir Conjugation: How To Conjugate Can/Able To In French

By David Issokson • April 2, 2022 • Updated December 2, 2022

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How to conjugate the French verb pouvoir

Pouvoir one of the most commonly used verbs in the French language. Pouvoir means can and to be able to. The present tense conjugation of pouvoir is: Je peux (I can), Tu peux (you can, familiar), Il, elle, on peut (He, she, one can), Nous pouvons (We can), Vous pouvez (You can, formal and plural) and Ils, elles peuvent (They can).

Pouvoir is an French irregular verb. This means that when conjugated in the present tense, its endings do not match the ending patterns of other regular verbs in the -ir group.

 

Pouvoir is also a semi-auxiliary or modal verb. This means that it can precede an in infinitive (to form of a verb). For example, “Je peux venir” (I can come).

This page contains verb conjugation charts for the verb pouvoir in the following tenses: Present indicative (le présent de l’indicatif), compound past (le passé composé), imperfect indicative (l’imparfait de l’indicatif), simple past (le passé simple), near future (le future proche), simple future (le future simple), future tense (le futur antérieur), conditional (le conditionnel présent), past conditional (le conditionnel passé) and the subjunctive (subjonctif présent).

Pouvoir Conjugation Chart

Pouvoir Conjugation Chart

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How to use the verb pouvoir

While pouvoir means can or to be able, the underlying underling meaning of this verb always relates to capability.

Basic usage of pouvoir

The most basic usage of pouvoir is to express being able or not able to carry out actions.

·         Je ne peux pas faire le travail maintenant. I can’t do the work now.

·         Elle ne peut pas finir son travail avant six heures. She can’t finish her work before six o’clock.

·         Nous ne pouvons pas acheter la voiture. We can’t buy the car.

Asking questions in the first-person singular (je) form

The two main ways to ask questions in the first-person singular (je) form are as follows. “Puis-je” is a special inversion of “Je peux”.

·         Est-ce que je peux + infinitive; and

·         Puis-je + infinitive

The following is an example of such a question:

·         Est-ce que je peux vous aider? Can I help you?

·         Puis-je vous aider? Can I help you?

 

Polite requests

The verb pouvoir is used in the conditional tense to make polite requests. The first of the following two example sentences is in the present tense and the second is in the conditional. The second sentence in the conditional is more polite and formal.

·         Pouvez-vous m’aider? Can you help me.

·         Pourriez-vous m’aider? Could you help me?

Reflexive – forme pronominale

In the form of a reflexive verb, se pouvoir means to be possible, may or might. It’s written with the impersonal expression il se peut. 

·         Il se peut que j’aie oublié. It’s possible I forgot.

Pouvoir conjugation charts

The following are the verb tables for pouvoir in all the major tenses with example sentences.

Present tense

The following table shows the French verb pouvoir conjugated in the present tense (le présent de l’indicatif).

Je peux	I can, am able	Je ne peux pas venir demain.	I cannot come tomorrow.
Tu peux	You can (familiar), are able	Tu peux chanter la chanson.	You can sing the song.
Il, elle, on peut	He, she, one can, is able	Il ne peut pas conduire.	He cannot drive.
Nous pouvons	We can, are able	Nous pouvons assister à la fête.	We can attend the party.
Vous pouvez	You can (plural, formal), are able	Vous pouvez dîner à la masion.	You can have dinner at home.
Il, elle peuvent	They can, are able	Ils peuvent travailler demain	They can work tomorrow.

Passé composé

The passé composé (compound past) is used to express past actions which occurred at a precise moment in time.

To form the passé composé for pouvoir, combine avoir in the present tense as an auxiliary verb with the past participle of pouvoir. Hence, “J’ai pu” means “I was able to” or “I could”.

J'ai pu	I was able to, I could	J'ai pu finir le projet.	I was able to finish the project
Tu as pu	You were able to, you could (familiar)	Tu as pu m'aider.	You were able to help me.
Il, elle on a pu	He, she, one was able to, could	Elle a pu apprendre les verbes.	She was able to learn the verbs.
Nous avons pu	We were able to, could	Nous avons pu conduire la voiture.	We were able to drive the car.
Vous avez pu	You were able to, could (formal, plural)	Vous avez pu voyager en France.	You were able to travel to France.
Ils, elles on pu	They were able to	Ils ont pu acheter les skis.	They were able to buy the skis.

Imperfect tense

The imperfect indicative (l’imparfait de l’indicatif) is used to express past actions which occurred at undefined times.

For the verb pouvoir, the imperfect is formed by combining the stem of the first-person plural (nous) form of the verb in the present tense with the appropriate ending.

Hence, “Je pouvais” translates to “I was able to”, “I used to be able to”, “I could”.

Je pouvais	I was able to, used to be able to, could	Je ne pouvais pas ouvrir la porte.	I couldn't open the door.
Tu pouvais	You were able to, used to be able to, could (informal)	Tu pouvais conduire tous les jours.	You were able to drive every day.
Il, elle, on pouvait	He, she, one was able to, used to be able to, could	Elle pouvait travailler chaque semaine.	She was able to work every week.
Nous pouvions	We used to be able to, were able to, could	Nous pouvions aller en France une fois par an.	We were able to go to France once yearly.
Vous pouviez	You were able to, used to be able to, could (formal, plural)	Vous pouviez faire le trajet en moins d'un heure.	You used to be able to do the trip in less than one hour.
Ils, elles pouvaient	They were able to, used to be able to, could	Ils pouvaient venir de temps en temps.	They used to be able to come from time to time.

 

Passe simple

The passé simple (simple past) is a literary past tense that equates grammatically to the passé composé and is mainly used in literature and writings.

Je pus	I was able, could	Je pus finir le projet.	I was able to finish the project.
Tu pus	You were able, could (familiar)	Tu pus apprendre tous les verbes.	You were able to learn all the verbs.
Il, elle, on put	He, she, one was able, could	Il put prononcer le mots difficiles.	He was able to pronounce the difficult words.
Nous pûmes	We were able, could	Nous pûmes lire le roman.	We were able to read the novel.
Vous pûtes	You were able, could	Vous pûtes acheter le billet d'avion.	You were able to buy the plane ticket.
Ils, elles purent	They were able, could	Ils purent vendre la maison.	They were able to sell the house.

Near future tense

The near future tense (le future proche)is a future tense that’s to express future events which have a high degree of certainty.

It is formed by combining the present tense of aller (to go) with the infinitive of pouvoir plus another infinitive.

Thus, for the verb pouvoir, “Je vais pouvoir + infinitive” means “I am going to be able to + verb.” For example: “Je vais pouvoir chanter la chanson” (I’m going to be able to sing the song).

Je vais pouvoir	I'm going to be able to	Je vais pouvoir faire le voyage.	I'm going to be able to take the trip.
Tu vas pouvoir	You're going to be able to (familiar)	Tu vas pouvoir acheter la voiture.	You're going to be able to buy the car.
Il, elle, on va pouvoir	He, she, one is going to be able to	Elle va pouvoir voyager en Argentine.	She's going to be able to travel to Argentina.
Nous allons pouvoir	We are going to be able to	Nous allons pouvoir profiter du beau temps.	We're going to be able to enjoy the nice weather.
Vous allez pouvoir	You are going to be able to (formal, plural)	Vous allez pouvoir jouer du violon devant le public	You're going to be able to play the violin in front of the audience.
Ils, elles vont pouvoir	They are going to be able to	Ils vont pouvoir faire du vélo cet après-midi.	They're going to be able to go for a bike ride this afternoon.

Future tense

The simple future (le futur simple) tense expresses future events. The tense is formed by adding the appropriate ending to the stem -pourr. Hence, “Je pourrai” means “I will be able to”.

Je pourrai	I will be able to	Je pourrai acheter la voiture si j'ai assez d'argent.	I will be able to buy the car if I have enough money.
Tu pourras	You will be able to (familiar)	Tu pourras faire le voyage si tu as assez de temps.	You will be able to take the trip if you have enough time.
Il, elle, on pourra	He, she, one will be able to	Il pourra lire le roman s'il va à la bibliothèque.	He will be able to read the book if he goes to the library.
Nous pourrons	We will be able to	Nous pourrons finir le projet si nous restons au bureau.	We will be able to finish the project if we stay in the office.
Vous pourrez	You will be able to (formal, plural)	Vous pourrez gagner de l'argent si vous travaillez.	You will be able to earn money if you work.
Ils, elles pourront	They will be able to	Ils pourront dîner au restaurant s'ils finissent leur travail.	They will be able to eat out if they finish their work.

Past future tense

The past future tense (le futur antérieur) is used to describe actions that will have occurred in the future.

The past future for the verb pouvoir is formed by combining avoir in the simple future tense with the past participle pu. Hence, “J’aurai pu” translates to “I will have been able to”.

J'aurai pu	I will have been able to	J'aurai pu finir le projet d'ici la fin du moi.	I will have been able to finish the project by the end of the month.
Tu auras pu	You will have been able to (familiar)	Tu auras pu me le dire d'ici la fin du jour.	You will have been able to tell me by the end of the day.
Il, elle, on aura pu	He, she, one will have been able to	Elle aura pu le faire avant samedi.	She will have been able to do it by before Saturday.
Nous aurons pu	We will have been able to	Nous aurons pu dîner avant les autres	We will have been able to have dinner before the others.
Vous aurez pu	You will have been able to (formal, plural)	Vous aurez pu constuire la maison d'ici l'année prochaine.	You will have been able to build the house by next year.
Ils, elles auront pu	They will have been able to	J'aurai pu te raconter toute l'histoire d'ici la fin de la soirée.	I will have been able to tell you the entire story by the end of the evening.

Conditional tense

The two main usages of pouvoir in the conditional tense (le conditionnel présent) are for expressing hypothetical situations and making polite requests.

For the verb pouvoir, it is formed by adding the appropriate ending to the stem -pourr. Hence, for the verb pouvoir, “Je pourrais”means “I could”.

Je pourrais	I could	Je pourrais faire le voyage si j'avais assez de temps.	I would take the trip if I had enough time.
Tu pourrais	You could (familiar)	Pourrais-tu m'aider?	Could you help me?
Il, elle, on pourrait	He, she, one could	Il pourrait acheter la voiture s'il avait assez d'argent.	He could buy the car if he had enough money.
Nous pourrions	We could	Nous pourrions acheter la maison si nous avions assez d'argent.	We could buy the house if we had enough money.
Vous pourriez	You could (formal, plural)	Pourriez-vous m'aider?	Could you help me?
Ils, elles pourraient	They could	Ils pourrait venir chez nous s'ils ne travaillaient pas.	They could come to our house if they weren't working.

Past conditional

The past conditional (le conditionnel passé) is used to express regrets. For the verb pouvoir, it is formed by combining avoir in the present conditional with the past participle.

Hence, “J’aurais pu + infinitive” translates to “I could have ___ed”. For example, “J’aurais pu finir” translates to “I could have finished”.

In the example sentences, below, the past conditional is combined with the pluperfect (plus-que-parfait) to create anteriority.

J'aurais pu	I could have	J'aurais pu acheter la voiture si j'avais eu assez d'argent.	I could have bought he car if I'd had enough money.
Tu aurais pu	You could have (familar)	Tu aurais pu acheter la maison si tu avais eu assez d'argent.	You could have bought the house if you'd had enough money.
Il, elle, on aurait pu	He, she, one could have	Il aurait pu faire un voyage s'il avait eu assez de temps.	He could have taken a trip if he'd had enough time.
Nous aurions pu	We could have	J'aurais pu faire du ski s'il y avait eu assez de neige.	I could have skied if there had been enough snow.
Vous auriez pu	You could have (formal, plural)	Vous auriez pu me le dire avant!	You could have told me earlier!
Ils, elles auraient pu	They could have	Ils auraient pu regarder un film si le cinema avait été ouvert.	They could have watched a movie if the cinema had been open.

Subjunctive

The French subjunctive mood (le subjonctif présent) is use to express wishes, emotions and doubts. The verb pouvoir has an irregular subjunctive stem: puisse. Hence, “que je puisse” translates to “that I can”.

que je puisse	that I can	Il doute que je puisse prononcer le mot.	He doubts I can pronounce the word.
que tu puisses	that you can (familiar)	Je suis content que tu puisses venir.	I am happy you can come.
qu'il, elle puisse	that he, she can	Il ne pense pas qu'elle puisse chanter la chanson.	I don't think she can sing the song.
que nous puissions	that we can	Tu es heureux que nous puissions venir.	You are happy we can come.
que vous puissiez	that you can (formal, plural)	Je ne pense pas que vous puissiez acheter cette voiture.	I don't think you can buy this car.
qu'ils, elles puissent	that they can	Je suis ravi qu'ils puissent faire ce projet.	I'm delighted they can do this project.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Devoir Conjugation: How To Conjugate Must, Have To In French

In French, the verb devoir translates to must, have to and need to. The conjugation of devoir in the present tense is: je dois (I must), tu dois (you must), il/elle doit (he/she must), nous devons (we must) vous devez (you must, formal and plural) and ils/elles doivent (they most). This post provide conjugation charts of devoir in five major tenses.

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Uses of devoir

Devoir is one of the most useful verbs in the French language. In addition to must, have to and need to, it has several other common usages.

1. Must/have to/need to

When followed by an infinitive, devoir means must, have to and to need to. For example:

·         Je dois travailler demain. I have to work tomorrow.

·         Vous devez écouter le professeur. You must listen to the teacher.

·         Il doit acheter une nouvelle voiture. He needs to buy a new car.

2. Supposed to

The verb devoir can also suggest probability and means “supposed to”. For example:

·         Le train doit arriver avant midi. The train is supposed to arrive before noon.

3. To owe

The verb devoir can also mean “to owe”. For example:

·         Il me doit vingt euros. He owes me twenty euros.

4. Should, ought to

In the conditional form, devoir translates to “should” or “ought to”. For example:

·         Vous devriez étudier le français. You should (ought to) study French.

Devoir conjugation tables

Before we get into the tables with example sentences, let’s have a quick look at the conjugations of devoir in six major tenses.

Devoir conjugation tables with example sentences

In the following section we’ll cover the verb devoir in five main tenses including the present, imperfect, passé composé, future and conditional tenses.

Present tense

In the present tense, je dois translates to I must, have to and need to.

Je dois	I must/have to	Je dois travailler demain.	I have to work tomorrow
Tu dois	You must/has to (singular, informal)	Tu dois acheter la voiture.	You must buy the car.
Il/elle doit	He/she must/has to	Il doit vendre la masion.	He has to sell the house.
Nous devons	We must/have to	Nous devons rester ici.	We have to stay here.
Vous devez	You must/have to (formal, plural)	Vous devez payer l'addition.	You have to pay the bill.
Ils/elles doivent	They must/have to	Ils doivent trouver une solution	They must find a solution.

Passé composé

The passé composé is a commonly used French past tense. The construction J’ai dû + infinitive translates to “I had to” and is used for recounting past events.

J'ai dû	I had to	J'ai dû poser la quesiton.	I had to ask the question.
Tu as dû	You had to (informal singular)	Tu as dû nettoyer la cusine.	You had to clean the kitchen.
Il/elle a dû	He/she had to	Il a dû apprendre le chinois.	He had to learn Chinese.
Nous avons dû	We had to	Nous avons dû finir la leçon.	We had to finish the lesson.
Vous avez dû	You had to (plural, formal)	Vous avez dû partir.	You had to leave.
Ils/elles ont dû	They had to	Ils ont dû acheter une télévison.	They had to buy a TV.

Imperfect

The imperfect (or imparfait) is an other commonly used French past tense. Je devais + infinitive also means “I had to” and is used for describing past situations.

Je devais	I had to	Je devais me renseigner.	I had to get information.
Tu devais	You had to (singular, informal)	Tu devais partir avant nous.	You had to leave before us.
Il/elle devait	He/she had to	Elle devait déménager.	She had to move out.
Nous devions	We had to	Nous devions trouver un nouvel appartement.	We had to find a new apartment.
Vous deviez	You had to (plural, formal)	Vous deviez suivre des cours.	You had to take lessons.
Ils/elles devaient	They had to	Ils devaient descendre la montagne.	They had to do down the mountain.

Future

In the futur simple, a commonly used French future tense, je devrai + infinitive translates to “I will have to”.

Je devrai	I will have to	Je devrai faire la cuisine.	I will have to cook.
Tu devras	You will have to (informal, singular)	Tu devras aller chez le coiffeur.	You will have to go to the hairdresser.
Il/elle devra	He/she will have to	Elle devra parler au patron.	She will have to talk to the boss.
Nous devrons	We will have to	Nous devrons aller au magasin.	We will have to go to the store.
Vous devrez	You will have to (formal, plural)	Vous devrez me téléphoner.	You will have to call me.
Ils/elles devront	They will have to	Ils devront apprendre quelques mots.	They will have to learn a few words.

Conditional

In French, the conditional tense is used to hypothetical “should” situations. Je devrais + infinitive translates to “I should”.

Je devrais	I should	Je devrais être plus gentil.	I should be kinder.
Tu devrais	You should (informal, singular)	Tu devrais travailler plus souvent.	You should work more often.
Il/elle devrait	He/she should	Elle devrait apprendre les verbes.	She should learn the verbs.
Nous devrions	We should	Nous devrions partir avant midi.	We should leave before noon.
Vous devriez	You should (formal, plural)	Vous devriez apprendre le français.	You should learn French.
Ils/elles devraient	They should	Ils devraient partir de bonne heure.	They should leave early.

French Schools: Understanding The French Education System

 

 

 

Voir Conjugation: How To Conjugate “To See” In French

By David Issokson • February 19, 2023 • Updated February 24, 2023

The conjugation of voir (Meaning: To see in French; Pronunciation; vwaʀ) is: Je vois (I see), tu vois (you see), il/elle voit (he/she sees), nous voyons (we see), vous voyez (you see) and ils/elles voient (they see). This post will provide conjugation charts for voir in six major tense with example sentences.

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Voir is an irregular French -ir verb. This means that its endings in the present tense are different to other regular verbs in the -ir group, such as finir (to finish).

The past participle is voir is vu (saw). We’ll elaborate more on this below in the passé composé section.

We’ve covered the following six major tenses on this page:

·         Le present (present tense)

·         Le passe compose (compound past)

·         L’imparfait (imperfect)

·         Le futur simple (simple future)

·         Le conditionnel (conditional)

·         Le subjoncdtif (subjunctive)

Voir conjugation table

Before getting into the charts with example sentences we’ll first take a quick look the conjugation table of voir.

Voir conjugation charts

Present tense (present indicative)

In the present tense (le présent), je vois translates to both “I see” and “I am seeing”.

Je vois	I see	Je vois le chien.	I see the dog.
Tu vois	You see (familiar, singular)	Tu vois le chat.	You see that cat.
Il/elle voit	He/she sees	Elle voit les montagnes.	She sees the mountains.
Nous voyons	We see	Nous voyons la voiture.	We see the car.
Vous voyez	You see (formal, plural)	Vous voyez la plage.	You see the beach.
Ils/elles voient	They see	Ils voient leurs amis.	They see their friends.

Compound past (passé composé)

The passe composé is a frequently used French past tense to describe actions which occurred a specific point in time. J’ai vu translates to “I saw”.

J'ai vu	I saw	J'ai vu le film.	I saw the movie.
Tu as vu	You saw (familiar, singular)	J'ai vu le prof dans la salle de classe.	I saw the teacher in the classroom.
Il/elle a vu	He/she saw	Elle a vu un bon ami.	She saw a good freind.
Nous avons vu	We saw	Nous avons vu l'étoile.	We saw the star.
Vous avez vu	You saw (formal, plural)	Vous avez vu ma femme.	You saw my wife.
Ils/elles ont vu	They saw	Ils ont vu un oiseau.	They saw a bird.

Imperfect indicative (imparfait)

The imparfait (imperfect) is another commonly used French past tense used to describe actions which occurred at unspecified points in time. Je voyais translates to “I used to see” and “I was seeing”.

The verb voir conjugated in the imperfect tense in French does not lend itself very well to sample sentences. Hence, we’ve just included the conjugation and English equivalents below.

Je voyais	I used to see, was seeing
Tu voyais	You used to see, were seeing (familiar, singular)
Il/elle voyait	He/she used to see, was seeing
Nous voyons	We used to see, were seeing
Vous voyez	You used to see, were seeing (formal, plural)
Ils/elles voyaient	They used to see, were seeing

Simple future (futur simple)

The futur simple tense is used to express events which will occur in the future. Voir has an irregular stem in the future simple: -verr. Je verrai translates to “I will see”.

Interestingly when using with the third-person singular pronoun on, meaning “one” or “we”, on verra translates to “we’ll see” as in “we’ll see what happens”.

Je verrai	I will see	Je verrai mes amis.	I will see my friends.
Tu verras	You will see (familiar, singular)	Tu verras les résutats.	You will see the results.
Il/elle verra	He/she will see	Elle verra le lever du soleil.	She will see the sunrise.
Nous verrons	We will see	Nous verrons plus tard.	We will see later.
Vous verrez	You will see (formal, plural)	Vous verrez une tempête de neige.	You will see a snow storm.
Ils/elles verront	They will see	Ils verront de bonnes conditions de ski.	They will see good ski conditions.

Conditional mood (présent du conditionnel)

In French, le conditionnel is used to express hypothetical events which “would” occur. Je verrais translates to “I would see”.

Je verrais	I would see	Je verrais le spectacle si javais un billet.	I would see the show if I had a ticket.
Tu verrais	You would see (familiar, singular)	Tu verrais ton ami si tu avais le temps.	You'd see your friend if you had time.
Il/elle verrait	He/she would see	Elle verrait ses amis si elle avait une voiture.	She would see her friends if she had a car.
Nous verrions	We would see	Nous verrions nos amis si nous avions le temps libre.	We'd see our friends if we had free time.
Vous verriez	You would see (formal, plural)	Vous verriez le film si le cinéma était ouvert.	You'd see the movie if the cinema was open.
Ils/elles verraient	They would see	Ils verraient l'émission s'ils avaient une télévision.	They'd see the show if they had a TV.

Present subjunctive (subjonctif)

The French use the subjunctive mood to express wishes, emotions and doubts. Que je vois translates to “that I see”.

Que je voie	that I see	Il faut que je voie ce film.	I need to see this film.
Que tu voies	that you see (familiar, singular)	Je veux que tu voies sa réaction.	I want you to see see his reaction.
Qu'il/elle voie	that he/she sees	Je doute qu'elle voie la vérité.	I doubt she sees the truth.
Que nous voyions	that we see	Il faut que nous voyions les résultats.	We need to see the results.
Que vous voyiez	that you see (formal, plural)	Je suis heureux que vous voyiez un changement.	I'm happy you're seeing a change.
Qu'ils voient	that they see	Il faut qu'ils voient si c'est possible.	They have to see if it's possible.

Voir – Summary video

In the following video online teacher, Alexa, summarizes the conjugations for voir in the present, past and future tenses and provides lots of example sentences.

 

Prendre Conjugation: How To Conjugate “To Take” In French

Prendre (Pronunciation pʀɑ̃dʀ) means “to take” in French. The conjugation of prendre in the present tense is je prends (I take), tu prends (you take), il/elle prend (he/she takes), nous prenons (we take), vous prenez (you take) and ils/elles prennent (they take).

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Prendre is an irregular -re verb. This means that its endings in the present are different from regular -re verbs.

Further down this page, we’ve listed the verb conjugation charts for prendre in the following tenses. Keep reading as we’ve provided lots of example sentences for each tense.

·         present

·         passé composé

·         imperfect

·         future

·         conditional

·         subjunctive

Prendre conjugation table: quick overview.

How to use “prendre”

Before we get into the conjugation tables (see below), we’ll list out ten usages of prendre.

Prendre is a very versatile verb and can be used in the following situations.

1. To take hold, grasp, seize or pick up

·         J’ai pris le livre et je l’ai mis dans mon sac. I took the book and put in in my bag.

·         J’ai pris les clés et je les mises dans ma poche. I took the keys and put them in my pocket.

2. To take with you

·         N’oublie pas de prendre ton pull. Il fait froid. Don’t forget to take your sweater. It’s cold out.

3. To get

·         Je prends du lait au supermarché. I get milk at the supermarket.

4. Consuming food, drinks and medication

·         Je prends un café. I’m having a coffee.

·         Je prends un médicament pour mes allergies. I take medication for my allergies.

5. Taking methods of transportation

·         Je prends l’avion pour aller en France. I take the plane to go to France.

·         On prend un taxi ou le métro? Shall we take a taxi or the metro?

6. To take a particular road

·         Elle prend l’autoroute pour se rendre au travail. She takes the highway to get to work.

7. How long something takes

·         Ça me prend une heure pour aller à Marseille. It takes me one hour to get to Marseille.

8. To mistaken somebody for somebody else

·         Pardon, je vous prends pour quelqu’un d’autre. Sorry, I’m mistaking you for somebody else.

·         Tu me prends pour un con [slang, vulgar]? Are you taking me for a fool?

9. Prendre des kilo means to gain weight

·         J’ai pris cinq kils pendant Noël. I gained five pounds during Christmas.

10. Se prendre pour = to believe yourself to be

·         Pour qui tu te prends, pour une vedette? Who do you think you are, a star?

The following image shows prendre conjugated in ten tenses in the first-person singular (je) form.

Prendre conjugation charts

In this section we’ve conjugated prendre in six tenses which are necessary to know in order to speak French fluently.

Present tense

In the present tense, je prends translates to both “I take” and “I am taking”.

Je prends	I take	Je prends un café.	I'm having a coffee.
Tu prends	You take (singular, informal)	Tu prends le bus.	You take the bus.
Il/elle prend	He/she takes	Elle prend un steak.	She's having a steak.
Nous prenons	We take	Nous prenons un taxi.	We're taking a taxi.
Vous prenez	You take (plural, formal)	Vous prenez votre temps.	You're taking your time.
Ils/elles prennent	They take	Ils prennent le train.	They're taking the train.

Passé composé

In the passé composé, a commonly used French past tense, j’ai pris means “I took”.

J'ai pris	I took	J'ai pris un médicament.	I took medicine.
Tu as pris	You took (singular, informal)	Tu as pris deux sucres.	You took two lumps of sugar.
Il/elle a pris	He/she took	Elle a pris un thé.	She had a tea.
Nous avons pris	We took	Nous avons pris les clés.	We took the keys.
Vous avez pris	You took (plural, formal)	Vous avez pris l'avion.	You took the plane.
Ils/elles ont pris	They took	Ils ont pris la télévision.	They took the TV.

Imperfect

The imperfect (l’imparfait) is another commonly used French past tense. In French, je prenais translates to “”I was taking”, “I used to take” and simply “I took”.

Je prenais	I was taking, used to take, took	Avant, je prenais le bus.	Before I used to take the bus.
Tu prenais	You were taking, used to take, took (singular, informal)	Avant, tu prenais un café chaque matin.	Before you used to have a coffee every morning.
Il/elle prenait	He/she was taking, used to take, took (singular, informal)	Avant, elle prenait le métro.	Before she used to take the metro.
Nous prenions	We were taking, used to take, took	Avant, nous prenions la voiture.	Before we used to take the car.
Vous preniez	You were taking, used to take, took (plural, formal)	Avant, vous preniez un taxi.	Before you used to take a taxi.
Ils/elles prenaient	They were taking, used to take, took	Avant, ils prenaient le télésiège.	Before they used to take the chairlift.

Future

In the futur simple, a commonly used French future tense, je prendrai translates to “I will take”.

Je prendrai	I will take	Je prendrai un cafe.	I'll have a coffee.
Tu prendras	You will take (singular, informal)	Tu prendras le train.	You will take the train.
Il/elle prendra	He/she will take	Elle prendra une glace.	She'll have an icecream.
Nous prendrons	We will take	Nous prendrons deux crêpes.	We'll have two crepes.
Vous prendrez	You will take (plural, formal)	Vous prendrez l'avion.	You'll take the plane.
Ils/elles prendront	They will take	Ils prendront une bouteille de vin.	They'll have a bottle of wine.

Conditional

In French, the conditional tense is used to express “would” or hypothetical situations. Hence, je prendrais translates to “I would take”.

Je prendrais	I would take	Je prendrais le bus si j'avais le temps.	I'd take the bus if I had the time.
Tu prendrais	You would take (singular, informal)	Tu prendrais le train mais ce n'est pas possible.	You'd take the train but it's not possible.
Il/elle prendrait	He/she would take	Il prendrait un café mais il est trop tard.	He's have a coffee but it's too late.
Nous prendrions	We would take	Nous prendrions l'avion mais il n'y a plus de billets.	We'd take the plane but there are no more tickets.
Vous prendriez	You would take (plural, formal)	Vous prendriez la voiture mais elle n'a plus d'essence.	You'd take the car but it's out of gas.
Ils/elles prendraient	They would take	Ils prendraient les vélos maisl ils ne sont plus disponibles.	They'd take the bikes but they are no longer available.

Subjunctive

The French subjunctive mood is used to express wishes, emotions and doubts.

que je prenne	that I take	Il faut que je prenne le train.	I need to take the train.
que tu prennes	that you take (singular, informal)	Il faut que tu prennes les clés.	You need to take the keys.
qu'il/elle prenne	that he/she takes	Je veux qu'elle prenne la voiture.	I want her to take the car.
que nous prenions	that we take	Il faut que nous prenions les serviettes.	We need to take the towels.
que vous preniez	that you take (plural, formal)	Je suis heureux que vous preniez l'avion.	I'm happy you're taking the plane.
qu'ils/elle prennent	that they take	Je ne sais pas s'ils prennent les vélos.	I don't know if they're taking the bikes.

 

 

Aimer Conjugation: How To Conjugate to like, to love in French

The conjugation of aimer (Meaning: to like, to love in French; Pronunciation: eme) is j’aime (I like), tu aimes (you like), il/elle aime (he/she likes), nous aimons (we like), vous aimez (you like) and ils/elles aiment (they like). This post will cover conjugation tables of aimer in nine major tense as well as common usages.

Aimer is regular -er verb. This means that its endings are the same as all other regular verbs which end in -er in the infinitive form. In the passé composé, aimer uses avoir (to have) as an auxiliary verb.

 

Note that when reading through the charts on this page (see below), we often translate aimer to “to like”. We could just have easily written “to love” in almost all cases.

Further down the page we’ve provided conjugation tables of aimer in the following eight major tense with example sentences.

·         present tense (le présent)

·         past tense (passé composé)

·         imperfect (l’imparfait)

·         future (le futur simple)

·         conditional (le conditionnel)

·         past conditional (le passé du conditionnel)

·         subjunctive (le subjonctif)

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Common uses of aimer

Before looking at the conjugation tables, let’s have a quick look at several common ways to use aimer.

1. Aimer + noun

The most common usage of aimer is to express the liking of things. For example:

·         J’aime les montagnes. I like mountains.

·         Je n’aime pas l’océan. I don’t like the ocean.

2. Aimer + verb in infinitive form

The second most common usage of aimer is to express the liking of actions. For example:

·         J’aime chanter cette chanson. I like singing this song.

·         Je n’aime pas manger le chou-fleur. I don’t like eating cauliflower.

3. I love you = je t’aime

The verb aimer is used in the expression, je t’aime, which means I love you. This page on our site covers various ways of saying I love you in French.

4. Aimer bien = to like

The French combine aimer with the adverb bien (well) to mean “to like”. For example:

·         J’aime bien faire du ski en semaine. I like skiing on week days.

Interestingly, there is a subtle difference between je t’aime (I love you) and je t’aime bien. The latter, je t’aime bien, means I like you but there’s little to no emotion attached to the the expression. An English equivalent might be “you’re alright”.

5. Aimer mieux = to prefer

When combined with the word mieux (better), aimer mieux means to prefer. For example:

·         J’aime mieux cette station de ski. I prefer this ski area.

6. s’aimer = to like or love each other

In the reflexive form, s’aimer means to like or love each other. For example:

·         Marc et sylvie s’aime depuis le lycée. Marc and Sylvie have loved each other since high school.

 

Aimer vs. adorer

Aimer means “to like” and “to love” while adorer can also mean “to adore” and “to love”. There are subtle differences between these two verbs. Aimer can be used for both people and things. For example:

·         Je t’aime. I love you.

·         J’aime ce chocolat. I like/love this chocolate.

The verb adorer, however, is mostly limited to things, objects and actives. Using adorer for people would sound awkward to the French ear.

·         J’adore ce chocolat. I adore/love this chocolat.

·         J’adore le ski. I l adore/love skiing.

That said, there is no fine line between aimer and adorer. Hence, the song title Oui, je l’adore (Yes, I love him) by Pauline Ester.

Aimer conjugation table

 

Aimer conjugation charts

The following section contains conjugation tables of aimer in seven major French verb tenses with example sentences.

Present tense (present indicative)

This chart shows the aimer conjugated in the present tense (le présent de l’indicatif). In hte present tense, j’aime translates to “I like you” and “I love you”.

J'aime	I like, love	J'aime la pizza.	I like pizza.
Tu aimes	You like, love (familiar, singular)	Tu aimes la glace.	You like ice cream.
Il/elle aime	He/she likes, loves	Il aime faire du ski.	He likes skiing.
Nous aimons	We like, love	Elle aime habiter en France.	She likes living in France.
Vous aimez	You like (formal, plural)	Vous aimez cette chanson.	You like this song.
Ils/elles aiment	They like	Ils aime leur maison.	They like their house.

In the following video, online French teacher, Alexa, demonstrates how to conjugate aimer in the present tense:

 

Passé composé (compound past)

The next tense we’ll look at is the passé composé, a commonly used French past tense used for completed actions. In French, j’ai aimé can translate to “I liked” and “I have liked”.

J'ai aimé	I liked	J'ai aimé le voyage.	I liked the trip.
Tu as aimé	You liked (familiar, singular)	Tu as aimé le repas.	You liked the meal.
Il/elle a aimé	He/she liked	Elle a aimé les fleurs.	She liked the flowers.
Nous avons aimé	We liked	Nous avons aimé le musée.	We liked the museum.
Vous avez aimé	You liked (formal, plural)	Vous avez aimé la leçon.	You liked the lesson.
Ils, elles ont aimé	They liked	Ils ont ont aimé leur hôtel.	They liked their hotel.

Passé simple

The passé simple is a literary past tense. It equates grammatical to the passé composé in that it’s used for describing past events which occurred at specific times. It’s important to recognize the passé simple endings in literature reading.

 

Hence, j’aimai equates to j’ai aimé grammatically and means “I liked”.

J'aimai	I liked	J'aimai le film.	I liked the movie.
Tu aimas	You liked (informal, singular)	Tu aimas le roman.	You liked the novel.
Il/elle aima	He/she liked	Elle aima le repas.	She liked the meal.
nous aimâmes	We liked	Nous aimâmes le poème.	We liked the poem.
Vous aimâtes	You liked (formal, plural)	Vous aimâtes le petit-déjeuner.	You liked the breakfast.
Ils/elles aimèrent	They liked	Ils aimèrent le voyage en Espagne.	They liked the trip to Spain.

Imperfect (l’imparfait)

The French imperfect indicative (l’imparfait) tense is used to describe past actions which took place at undefined time. For example, j’aimais translates to “I used to like” and and “I was liking”.

J'aimais	I used to like	Avant, j'aimais manger la viande.	Before, I used to like eating meat.
Tu aimais	You used to like (familiar, singular)	Quand j'étais un enfant, j'aimais faire du ski.	When I was a child, I used to like skiing.
Il/elle aimait	He/she used to like	Dans le passé, elle aimait faire du surf.	In the past, she used to like surfing.
Nous aimions	We used to like	Avant, nous aimions regarder la télé tous les soir.	Before, we used to like watching TV every night.
Vous aimiez	You used to like (formal, plural)	Vous aimiez faire du ski quand vous aviez quinze ans.	You used to like skiing when you were 15 years-old.
Ils/elles aimaient	They used to like	Ils aimaient faire de la randonée quand ils habitaient dans les montagnes.	They used to like hiking when they lived in the mountains.

Near future (le futur proche)

The French use the near future tense (le futur proche) to express future actions which will occur with a high degree of certainty. The construction is aller (to go) conjugated in the present tense followed by the infinitive. Hence, je vais aimer translates to “I am going to like”.

 

Je vais aimer	I'm going to like	Je vais aimer ce roman.	I'm going to like this novel.
Tu vas aimer	You're going to like (familiar, singular)	Tu vas aimer la soupe.	You're going to like the soup.
Il/elle va aimer	He's/she's going to like	Elle va aimer la nouvelle voiture.	She's going to like the new car.
Nous allons aimer	We're going to like	Nous allons aimer cette belle région.	We're going to like this beautiful region.
Vous allez aimer	You're going to like (formal, plural)	Vous allez aimer cette chanson.	You're going to like this song.
Ils/elles vont aimer	They're going to like	Ils vont aimer leur voyage en Espagne.	They're going to like their trip to Spain.

Simple future (le futur simple)

The next tense on our list the French future tense or the futur simple. In French, j’aimerai simply translates to “I will like”.

J'aimerai	I will like	Il pense que j'aimerai la chanson.	He thinks I'll like the song.
Tu aimeras	You will like (familiar, singular)	J'espère que tu aimeras le repas.	I hope you'll like the meal.
Il/elle aimera	He/she will like	Je ne sais pas s'il aimera la soupe.	I don't know if he'll like the soup.
Nous aimerons	We will like	Il dit que nous aimerons le voyage.	He's saying we'll like the trip.
Vous aimerez	You will like (formal, plural)	Je suis sûr que vous aimerez le film.	I'm sure you'll like the movie.
Ils/elles aimeront	They will like	J'espère qu'ils aimeront la voiture.	I hope they'll like the car.

Conditional (le conditionnel)

In French, the conditional (le conditionnel) is used to express hypothetical or actions that “would” occur. J’aimerais translates literally to “I would like”.

 

It can precede both a noun or verb. In French, j’aimerais and je voudrais are synonyms. The page on our site covers vouloir (to want). For example:

·         J’aimerais (= voudrais) une glace. I’d like an ice cream.

·         J’aimerais (= voudrais) manger une glace. I’d like to eat an ice cream.

J'aimerais	I would like	J'aimerais partir demain.	I would like to leave tomorrow.
Tu aimerais	You would like (familiar, singular)	Tu aimerais le chocolat.	You would like the chocolate.
Il/elle aimerait	He/she would like	Il aimerait acheter la voiture.	He would like to buy the car.
Nous aimerions	We would like	Nous aimerions vendre la maison.	We'd like to sell the house.
Vous aimeriez	You would like (formal, plural)	Vous aimeriez ces billets.	You would like these tickets.
Ils/elles aimeraient	They would like	Ils aimeraient danser ensemble.	They would like to dance together.

Past conditional (le passé du conditionnel)

The past conditional tense (le passé du conditionnel) is a bit more advance but very useful in spoken French. The French use it primarily to express regrets.

J’aurais aimé means “I would have liked” and combines avoir (to have) in the conditional form with the past participle aimé.

J'aurais aimé	I would have liked	J'aurais aimé partir un peu plus tôt.	I would have liked to leave a bit earlier.
Tu aurais aimé	You would have liked (informal, singular)	Qu'est-ce que tu aurais aimé faire?	What would you have liked to do?
Il/elle aurait aimé	He/she would have liked	Il aurait aimé la pizza.	He would have liked the pizza.
Nous aurions aimé	We would have liked	Nous aurions aimé ce restaurant.	We would have liked this restaurant.
Vous auriez aimé	You would have liked (formal, plural	Vous auriez aimé visiter l'Italie.	You would have liked visiting Italy.
Ils auraient aimé	They would have liked	Ils auraient aimé connaître cette région.	They would have liked getting to know this region.

Subjunctive (le subjonctif)

The French use the subjunctive (le sunbonctif) mood to express wishes, emotions and doubts. In French, que j’aime translates to “that I like”.

 

que j'aime	that I like	Il doute que j'aime la soupe.	He doubts I like the soup.
que tu aimes	that you like (singular, informal)	Il est heureux que tu aimes la pizza.	He's happy you like the pizza.
qu'il/elle aime	that he/she likes	Je suis content qu'elle aime les skis.	I'm happy she likes the skis.
que nous aimions	that we like	Il est content que nous aimions le repas.	He's happy we like the meal.
que vous aimiez	that you like (plural, formal)	Je suis ravi que vous aimiez le restaurant.	I'm delighted you like the restaurant.
qu'ils/elles aiment	that they like	Il faut qu'ils aiment la chambre.	They need to like the room.

 

Manger Conjugation: How To Conjugate “To Eat” In French

The conjugation of manger (Meaning: to eat; Pronunciation mɑ̃ʒe) is je mange (I eat), tu manges (you eat), il/elle mange (he/she eats), nous mangeons (we eat), vous mangez (you eat), ils/elles mangent (they eat). In this post we’ll provide conjugation charts for manger in six major verb tenses.

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Manger is a regular -er verb. The means that its endings in the present tense are the same as all other regular verbs which have infinitives ending in -er. The endings are: -e, -es, -e, -ons, -ez, and -ent.

The past participle of manger is mangé, meaning “ate”.

There is a slight irregularity in the first-person plural (nous) form where an extra -e is added. We’ll explain more below.

The verb tenses covered on this page include:

·         Present (le présent)

·         Le passé composé

·         Imperfect (l’imparfait)

·         Simple future (le futur simple)

·         Conditional (le conditionnel)

·         Subjunctive (le subjonctif)

Manger conjugation verb table

The following is a verb conjugation table of manger in six tenses. Further down the page we’ve provided complete conjugation chart including example sentences.

Manger conjugation charts

The following section provides full conjugation charts for manger with example sentences. These charts make use of French food vocabulary.

Present tense

In the present tense (le présent), je mange translates to both “I eat” and “I am eating”.

Note a particularity about manger when conjugated in the present tense. An extra -e is inserted in the first-person plural (nous) form after the -g (mangeons) to make a soft -g sound.

This pronunciation rule is covered on our French reading rules page.

Je mange	I eat	Je mange la pizza.	I'm eating the pizza.
Tu manges	You eat (familiar, singular)	Tu manges le fromage.	You eat the pizza.
Il/elle mange	He/she eats	Il mange le poisson.	He's eating the fish.
Nous mangeons	We eat	Nous mangeons le filet mignon.	We're eating the filet mignon.
Vous mangez	You eat (formal, plural)	Vous mangez le poulet et le riz.	You are eating the chicken and the rice.
Ils/elles mangent	They eat	Ils mangent la glace au chocolat.	They're eating the chocolate ice cream.

In the following video, online YouTube teacher, Alexa, teaches the pronunciation of manger in the present tense.

Passé composé

The passé composé is commonly used French past tense used to express completed events. In the first-person singular (je) form, j’ai mangé means “I ate”. The past participle of manger is mangé.

J'ai mangé	I ate	J'ai mangé toute la pizza.	I ate the entire pizza.
Tu as mangé	You ate (familiar, singular)	Tu as mangé une salade verte.	You ate a green salad.
Il/elle a mangé	He/she ate	Elle a mangé tous les biscuits.	She ate all the cookies.
Nous avons mangé	We ate	Nous avons mangé un gâteau au chocolat.	We ate a chocolate cake.
Vous avez mangé	You ate (formal, plural)	Vous avez mangé les saucisson.	You ate the dried saussage.
Ils/elles ont mangé	They ate	Ils ont mangé le le bifsteck d’alouyau.	They ate the sirloin steak.

Imperfect

The French use the imperfect tense (l’imparfait) to express actions which occurred at unspecified times. Je mangeais translates to “I used to eat” and “I was eating”.

Je mangeais	I used to eat, was eating	Avant, je mangeais trop de sucre.	Before, I used to each too much sugar.
Tu mangeais	You used to eat, were eating (familiar, singular)	Qu'est-ce que tu mangeais quand tu étais un enfant?	What did you used to eat when you were a child?
Il/elle mangeait	He used to eat, was eating	Il mangeait quand quelqu'un a frappé à la porte.	He was eating when somebody knocked on the door.
Nous mangions	We used to eat, were eating	Nous mangions beaucoup de pizza à l'université.	We used to eat a lot of pizza in college.
Vous mangiez	You used to eat, were eating (formal, plural)	Vous mangiez à la cantine au collège.	You used to eat at the cafeteria in middle school.
Ils/elles mangeaient	They were eating, used to eat	Avant, ils mangeaient trop de glucide.	Before, they used to eat too many carbohydrates.

 

Future tense

In the future tense (le futur simple), je mangerai translates to “I will eat”.

Je mangerai	I will eat	Je mangerai beaucoup de fromage en France.	I will eat a lot of cheese in France.
Tu mangeras	You will eat (familiar, singular)	Tu mangeras beaucoup de pizza en Italie.	You will eat a lot of pizza in Italy.
Il/elle mangera	He/she will eat	Est-ce qu'elle mangera avec nous?	Will she eat with us?
Nous mangerons	We will eat	Nous ne mangerons pas avant midi.	We will not eat before noon.
Vous mangerez	You will eat (formal, plural)	Vous mangerez chez vos amis ce soir.	You will eat at your friends' house tonight.
Ils/elles mangeront	They will eat	Ils mangeront bien en Europe.	They will eat well in Europe.

Conditional tense

The French use the conditional tense (le conditionnel) to express hypothetical events which “would” occur. Je mangerais translates to “I would eat”.

Je mangerais	I would eat	Je mangerais mais je n'ai pas faim.	I would eat but I'm not hungry.
Tu mangerais	You would eat (informal, singular)	Tu mangerais si tu avais faim.	You would it if you were hungry.
Il/elle mangerait	He/she would eat	Elle mangerait si elle se sentait mieux.	She would eat if she felt better.
Nous mangerions	We would eat	Nous mangerions si nous avions assez de temps.	We would eat if we had enough time.
Vous mangeriez	You would eat (formal, plural)	Vous mangeriez si vous aviez faim.	You would eat if you were hungry.
Ils/elles mangeraient	They would eat	Ils mangeraient si ils avaient une reservation.	They would eat if they had a reservation.

Subjunctive

The French use the subjunctive mood (le subjonctif) to express wishes, emotions and doubts. Que je mange translates to “that I eat”.

que je mange	that I eat	Il faut que mange avant de partir.	I need to eat before leaving.
que tu manges	that you eat (familiar, singular)	Je veux que tu manges quelque chose.	I want you to eat something.
qu'il/elle mange	that he/she eats	Je doute qu'elle mange les légumes.	I doubt she's eating the vegetables.
que nous mangions	that we eat	Elle est heureuse que nous mangions le poisson.	She's happy we're eating the fish.
que vous mangiez	that you eat (formal, plural)	Ils faut que vous mangiez le fromage.	You need to eat the cheese.
qu'ils/elles mangent	that they eat	Je ne sais pas s'ils mangent avec nous.	I don't know if they're eating with us.

 

Help learning French verbs
Learning French verbs can be very difficult. We’ve known Camille at Frenchtoday.com for many years. Camille suggest to focus more on mastering the pronunciation of verbs. She elaborates on this top in this blog post.

More verb conjugation tables on our site:

Boire Conjugation: How To Conjugate “To Drink” In French

 

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Boire Conjugation: How To Conjugate “To Drink” In French

The conjugation of the French verb boire (Meaning: to drink; pronunciation bwaʀ) is je bois (I drink), tu bois (you drink), il/elle boit (he/she drinks), nous buvons (we drink), vous buvez (you drink) and ils/elles boivent (they drink). This post will provide conjugation charts in six major tenses.

Boire is an irregular -re verb. This means that its endings in the present tense are different to the endings of other regular -re verbs. Tenses covered on this page include:

·         present tense (le présent)

·         passé composé

·         imperfect (l’imparfait)

·         future (le futur simple)

·         conditional (le conditionnel)

·         subjunctive (le subjonctif)

Boire conjugation table

The following is the conjugation table of boire in six major tenses. Further down the page we’ve included tables with example sentences.

Boire conjugation charts

In the following we show how to conjugate boire (to drink) in charts with example sentences.

This page on our site covers French beverages vocabulary in detail. We’ve used many of these words in our example sentences.

The following is the conjugation of boire in the first-person singular (je) form in ten verb tenses.

Present tense

In the present tense (le présent), je bois translates to both “I drink” and “I am drinking”. The present tense endings are -ois, -ois, -oit, -ons, -ez and -ent.

Je bois	I drink	Je bois le jus d'orange.	I'm drinking the orange juice.
Tu bois	You drink (familiar, singular)	Tu bois le chocolat chaud.	You're drinking the hot chocolate.
Il/elle boit	He/she drinks	Elle boit du thé.	She drinks tea.
Nous buvons	We drink	Nous buvons le vin rouge.	We're drinking the red wine.
Vous buvez	You drink (formal, plural)	Vous buvez un whisky.	You're drinking a whisky.
Ils/elles boivent	They drink	Ils boivent une bouteille de vin blanc.	They're drinking a bottle of white wine.

You may use the following video by online French teacher, Alexa, to learn the pronunciation of boire in the present tense.

Passé composé

The passé composé is a commonly used French past tense and corresponds to the simple past and present perfect tenses in English.

The French use the passé composé to describe specific actions which occurred at specific times.

The past participle of boire is bu (drank). Boire uses avoir (to have) as an auxiliary verb in the passé composé. Hence, j’ai bu translates to “I drank”.

J'ai bu	I drank	J'ai bu le Coca.	I drank the Coca-Cola.
Tu as bu	You drank (informal, singular)	Tu as bu le jus d'ananas.	You drank the pineapple juice.
Il/elle a bu	He/she drank	Elle a bu le vin chaud.	She drank the hot wine.
Nous avons bu	We drank	Nous avons bu la bière.	We drank the beer.
Vous avez bu	You drank (formal, plural)	Vous avez bu la bouteille de champagne.	You drank the bottle of champagne.
Ils/elles ont bu	They drank	Ils ont bu l'apératif.	They drank the cocktail.

Imperfect

The imperfect (l’imparfait) is another commonly used French past tense. The French use the imparfait to describe past actions which occurred at undefined times.

Hence, je buvais translates to “I used to drink” and “I was drinking”.

Je buvais	I used to drink, was drinking	Avant, je buvais beaucoup de boissons gaseuses.	I used to drink a lot of carbonated beverages.
Tu buvais	You used to drink, were drinking (informal, singular	Tu buvais le chocolat chaud quand tu étais un enfant.	You used to drink hot chocolate when you were a child.
Il/elle buvait	He/she used to drink, was drinking	Elle buvait du vin quand il a commandé une pizza.	She was drinking wine when he ordered une pizza.
Nous buvions	We used to drink, were drinking	Avant, nous buvions ensemble tout le temps.	We used to drink together all the time.
Vous buviez	You used to drink, were drinking (formal, plural)	Avant, vous buviez toujours un apératif avant le repas.	You used to always drink a a cocktail before the meal.
Ils/elles buvaient	They used to drink, were drinking	Ils buvaient du lait chaud avant de se coucher.	They used to drink warm milk before going to bed.

Future

The French used the futur simple to express actions which will occur in the future. Hence, je boirai means “I will drink”.

Je boirai	I will drink	Je boirai du Orangina avec mon repas.	I will drink Orangina with my meal.
Tu boiras	You will drink (informal, singular)	Est-ce que tu boiras de la bière ce soir?	Will you drink beer tonight?
Il/elle boira	He/she will drink	Elle boira du vin avec ses amis.	She will drink wine with her friends.
Nous boirons	We will drink	Nous boirons la bouteille de cidre.	We will drink the bottle of hard cider.
Vous boirez	You (formal, plural) will drink	Vous boirez du jus d'orange avec le petit déjeuner.	You will drink orange juice with breakfast.
Ils/elles boiront	They will drink	Ils boiront la champagne au mariage.	They will drink champagne at the marriage.

Conditional

The French use the conditional tense (le conditionnel) to express hypothetical actions which “would” occur. Hence, je boirais translates to “I would drink”.

Je boirais	I would drink	Je boirais de l'eau si j'avais soif.	I would drink water if I were thirsty.
Tu boirais	You would drink (informal, singular)	Tu boirais de la bière mais tu as oublié ton portefeuille.	You would drink beer but you forgot your wallet.
Il/elle boirait	He/she would drink	Elle boirait du vin rouge mais elle préfère le vin blanc.	She would drink red wine but she prefers white wine.
Nous boirions	We would drink	Nous boirions le Cola mais c'est trop sucré.	We would drink Coca-Cola but it's too sweet.
Vous boiriez	You would drink (formal, plural)	Vous boiriez le lait mais c'est périmé.	You would drink the milk but it's expired.
Ils/elles boiraient	They would drink	Ils boiraient la bouteille de champagne mais c'est trop cher.	They would drink the bottle of champagne but it's too expensive.

Subjunctive

The French uses the subjunctive mood (le subjonctif) to express wishes, emotions and doubts. Hence, que je boive translates to “that I drink”.

que je boive	that I drink	Il faut que je boive de l'eau.	I need to drink water.
que tu boives	that you drink (informal, singular)	Je doute que tu boives assez.	I doubt you're drinking enough.
qu'il/elle boive	that he/she drinks	Il faut qu'elle boive plus de l'eau minérale.	She needs to drink more mineral water.
que nous buvions	that we drink	Il faut que nous buvions le thé vert.	We need to drink the green tea.
que vous buviez	that you drink (formal, plural)	Je suis heureux que vous buviez notre vin rouge.	I'm happy you're drinking our red wine.
qu'ils/elles boivent	that they drink	Je ne pense pas qu'elles boivent le vin chaud.	I don't think they're drinking the hot wine.

 

More verb tables on our website:

·         parler (to speak)

·         manger (to eat)

·         aimer (to like, to love)

·         être (to be)

·         avoir (to have)

·         aller (to go)

·         faire (to make, to do)

·         devoir (must, have to)

·         vouloir (to want)

·         pouvoir (can, to be able)

·         prendre (to take)

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Être Conjugation: How To Conjugate The Verb To Be In French

How to conjugate the French verb être

Être is one of the single most important and common French verbs in the entire language. The meaning of être is “to be”. The conjugation of être in the present tense is: Je suis (I am), Tu es (you are, familiar), Il, elle, on est (He, she, one is), Nous sommes (We are), Vous êtes (You are) and Ils, elles sont (They are).

Être is an irregular verb. This means that when conjugated, its endings are different from regular verbs in the -re group. In addition, être is used as an auxiliary verb in addition to avoir in the passé composé for intransitive and reflexive verbs.

Further down this page, we’ve listed the verb conjugation charts for être in the following tenses. Keep reading as we’ve provided lots of example sentences for each tense.

·         present tense (le présent de l’indicatif)

·         compound past (le passé composé)

·         simple past (le passé simple)

·         imperfect (l’imparfait)

·         pluperfect (plus-que-parfait)

·         near future (le futur proche)

·         simple future (le futur simple)

·         past future (le futur antérieur)

·         conditional mood (le présent du conditionnel)

·         present subjunctive (le subjonctif)

·         imperative (l’impératif)

·         gerund (le géronif).

How to use Être

State of being

The first usage of être is to express states of being. To form these sentences use the following grammatical construction: Je suis + adjective. 

Here are some examples:

·         Je suis heureux / heureuse. I am happy.

·         Je suis fatigué(e). I am tired.

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Location

The second most common usage of être is to describe location.

·         Je suis en France. I’m in France.

·         Je suis en Angleterre. I’m in England.

·         Je suis aux États-Unis. I’m in the United States.

·         Il est dans le salon. He’s in the living room.

·         Nous sommes dans la cuisine. We’re in the kitchen.

·         Elle est dans la salle de bains. She’s in the bathroom.

 

This page covers geographical prepositions for places and countries, which can be confusing.

Agreement

The verb être is also used in the idiomatic expression être d’accord avec, which means to agree.

·         Je suis d’accord avec vous. I agree with you.

·         Je ne suis pas d’accord avec vous. I don’t agree with you.

·         Êtes-vous d’accord avec moi? Do you agree with me?

Auxiliary verb for passé composé

Être is used as an auxiliary verb used in the passé composé for verbs of movement as well as pronominal (reflexive) verbs.

·         Je suis allé en France. I went to France.

·         Nous sommes restés à la maison. We stayed home.

·         Elle s’est levée à 8h00. She got up at eight o’clock.

Present progressive indicative (en train de)

The grammatical construction être en train de + infinitive is used to describe being in the middle of doing something.

·         Je suis en train de travailler. I am working.

·         Je suis en train d’étudier ces verbes. I’m learning these verbs.

·         Je suis en train de laver la voiture. I’m washing the car.

Possession

To describe ownership or possession of an object you can use the following: être à + name of person or stress pronoun (moi, toi, lui, elle etc).

·         Le stylo est à moi. The pen is mine or belongs to me.

·         La voiture est à elle. The car is hers or belongs to her.

·         La maison est à eux. The house is theirs.

Punctuality

Being on time, early or late. You can also use être to describe punctuality. This lesson covers how to tell time in French.

·         Je suis à l’heure. I’m on time.

·         Je suis en avance. I’m early.

·         Je suis en retard. I’m late.

Être conjugation charts

The following section contains the conjugation tables of être in all the major tenses with example sentences.

Present tense (present indicative)

The following table shows the verb être conjugated in the present tense (le présent de l’indicatif).

Je suis	I am	Je suis en vacances.	I am on vacation.
Tu es	You are (familiar)	Tu es français.	You are French.
Il, elle, on est	He, she, one is	Elle est en retard.	She is late.
Nous sommes	We are	Nous sommes à Paris.	We are in Paris.
Vous êtes	You are (formal, plural)	Vous êtes en ville.	You are downtown.
Ils sont, elles sont	They are	Ils sont au cinéma	They are are the movies.

Compound past (passé composé)

The passé composé is a past tense that’s used to describe past actions which occurred at a specific moment in time.

The French passé composé equates to the simple past or the present perfect in English.

Être is formed in the passé composé by combing avoir in the present tense with the past participle été. Hence, “J’ai été” translates to “I was” or “I had been”.

J'ai été	I was	j'ai été au supermarché hier après-midi.	I was at the supermarket yesterday afternoon.
Tu as été	You were (familiar)	Tu as été au café hier matin.	You were at the café yesterday morning.
Il, elle, on été	He, she, one was	Elle a été chez elle hier soir.	She was at home last night.
Nous avons été	We were	Nous avons été au parc avec les enfants.	We were at the park with the kids.
Vous avez été	You were (formal, plural)	Vous avez été au restaurant avec vous amis.	You were at the restaurant with your friends.
Ils, elles été	They were	Ils ont été chez nous ce midi.	The were at our house at noon.

Passive voice with the past participle of être

The past participle of être, “été” is also used to form a past tense of the French passive voice. Here are some example sentences:

·         Le bâtiment a été construit en 1981. The building was built in 1981.

·         L’histoire a été écrite par un grand écrivain. The story was written by a great author.

Simple past (passé simple)

The passé simple is a literary past tense that equates grammatically to the passé composé.

While not necessary to memorize perfectly, it is a good idea to recognize the third-person singular and plural forms: Il/elle fut translates to “He/she was” and Ils/elles furent translates to “they were”.

Je fus	I was	Je fus à Paris la semaine dernière.	I was in Paris last week.
Tu fus	You were (familiar)	Tu fus très gentil avec les invités.	You were very kind with the guests.
Il, elle, on fut	He, she, one was	Il fut un grand artiste.	He was a great artist.
Nous fûmes	We were	Nous fûmes a l'hopital hier matin.	We were at the hospital yesterday morning.
Vous fûtes	You were (formal, plural)	Vous fûtes un homme honorable.	You were an honorable man.
Ils, elles furent	They were	Ils furent contre notre pays.	They were against our country.

Imperfect indicative (imparfait)

The imperfect indicative (imparfait) tense is to describe past events who do not have a precise start and stop time.

For the verb être, the imperfect is formed by adding the appropriate ending to the stem “ét”. Thus, “J’étais” translates to both “I was” and “I used to be”.

J'étais	I was, used to be	Quand j'étais un enfant, faisais du chaque week-end.	When I was a child, I used to ski every weekend.
Tu étais	You were, used to be (familiar)	Tu étais tres mignon quand tu étais un enfant.	You were very cute when you were a child.
Il, elle, on était	He, she, one was, used to be	Elle était une étudiante à Paris aux années 80.	She was a student in France in the 1980s.
Nous étions	We were, used to be	Nous étions très heureux ensemble.	We were very happy together.
Vous étiez	You were, used to be (plural, formal)	Vous étiez très fatigué après le voyage.	You were very tired after the trip.
Ils, elles étaient	They were, used to be	Ils n'étaient pas en retard.	They were not late.

Pluperfect (plus-que-parfait)

The French pluperfect (plus-que-parfait) is a tense that’s used to express anteriority (one event occurring before another).

For the verb être, it is formed by combining avoir in the imperfect with the past participle été. Hence. “J’avais été” translates to “I had been”.

J'avais été	I had been	J'avais été en retard.	I had been late.
Tu avais été	You had been (familiar)	Tu avais été au cinéma avec tes amis.	You had been at the movies with your friends.
Il, elle, on avait été	He, she, one had been	Il avait été fatigué le jour de l'examen.	He had been tired on the day of the exam.
Nous avions été	We had been	Nous avions été à l'heure pour la fête.	We had been on time for the party.
Vous aviez été	You had been (formal, plural)	Vous aviez été trop injuste avec les enfants.	You were too unfair with the kids.
Ils, elles avaient été	They had been	Ils avaient été tres généreux avec les invités.	The had been very generous with the guests.

Near future (futur proche)

The near future tense (futur proche) is used to describe future events which suggest a high level of certainty.

For the verb être, the future tense is formed by combining the present tense of aller (to go) with the infinitive. Hence, “Je vais être” means “I’m going to be”.

Je vais être	I'm going to be	Je vais être très riche un jour.	I'm going to be very rich some day.
Tu vas être	You're going to be (familiar)	Tu vas être en retard.	You are doing to be late.
Il, elle, on va être	He, she, one will be	Elle va être très belle.	She is going to be very beautiful.
Nous allons être	We will be	Nous allons être des parents.	We are going to be parents.
Vous allez être	You will be (formal, plural)	Vous allez être fatigué après le voyage.	You are going to be tired after the trip.
Ils, elles vont être	They will be	Ils vont être contents dans la nouvelle maison.	They will be happy in the new house.

Simple future (futur simple)

The futur simple, also simply called the “French future tense“, is used to describe future events. The events this tense describes are usually a bit less certain that those of the previous near future tense.

To form the futur simple for the verb être, add the appropriate ending to the stem, “-ser”. Hence, “Je serai” means “I will be”.

Je serai	I will be	Je serai ravi de vous rencontrer.	I will be delighted to meet you.
Tu seras	You will be (informal)	J'espère que tu seras heureux.	I hope you will be happy.
Il, elle, on sera	He, she, one will be	Nous pensons qu'elle sera en retard.	We think she'll be late.
Nous serons	We will be	Nous serons disponibles la semaine prochaine.	We will be available next week.
Vous servez	You will be (formal, plural)	Il croit que vous serez un peu déçu.	He thinks you will be a bit disappointed.
Ils, elles seront	They will be	Je ne sais pas s'ils seront ici demain.	I do not know if they will be here tomorrow.

Past future (futur antérieur)

The past future tense (futur antérieur) is used to describe events that will have occurred in the future.

For the verb être, this tense is formed by combining the simple future of avoir (to have) as an auxiliary verb with the past participle of être. Hence, “J’aurai été” translates to “I will have been”.

J'aurai été	I will have been
Tu auras été	You will have been (familiar)
Il, elle, on aura été	He, she, one will have been
Nous aurons été	We will have been
Vous aurez été	You will have been (formal, plural)
Ils, elles auront été	They will have been

Conditional mood (présent du conditionnel)

The French conditional tense is used to describe hypothetical situations. This the “would” tense.

For the verb être, it is formed by attaching the appropriate ending to the stem “-ser”. Hence, “Je serais” translates to “I would be”.

Je serais	I would be	Je serais plus à l'aise si j'avais plus de temps.	I'd be more at ease if I had more time.
Tu serais	You would be (familair)	Est-ce que tu serais prêt a commencer demain?	Would you be ready to start tomorrow?
Il, elle serait	He, she would be	Ils serait plus ambitieux s'il avait un objectif.	He would be more ambitious if he had a goal.
Nous serions	We would be	Nous serions très heureux de faire un voyage.	We would be very happy to go on a trip.
Vous seriez	You would be (formal, plural)	Vous seriez plus motivé si vous faisiez plus d'effort.	You would be more motivated if you tried harder.
Ils, elles seraient	They would be	Ils seraient déçu s'ils n'achetaient les billets.	They would be disappointed if they didn't buy the tickets.

Present subjunctive (subjonctif)

The French subjunctive mood (le subjonctif) is used to express wishes, emotions and doubts. In the first-person singular form “que je sois” translates to “that I be”.

que je sois	that I be	Je veux que tu sois patient.	I want you to be patient.
que tu sois	that you be (familiar)	Il faut que tu sois gentil.	You have to be nice.
qu'il, elle, on soit	that he, she, one be	Je doute qu'il soit prudent.	I doubt he's being careful.
que nous soyons	that we be	Il veut que nous soyons sages.	He wants us to behave.
que vous soyez	that you be (formal, plural)	Elle souhaite que vous là avant là départ.	She wants you to be there before the departure.
qu'ils, elles soient	that they be	Je ne pense pas qu'ils soitent d'accord.	I don't think they agree.

Imperative (impératif)

The imperative mood (impératif) is used to express both positive and negative commands. For the negation, ne…pas gets wrapped around the verb.

Positive commands

Sois!	Be! (tu form, familiar)	Sois patient!	Be patient!
Soyons!	Let's be!	Soyons à l'heure!	Let's be on time!
Soyez!	Be! (vous form, formal, plural)	Soyez gentils!	Be nice!

Negative commands

Ne sois pas!	Don't be!	ne sois pas si bête!	Don't be so silly!
Ne soyons pas!	Let's not be!	Ne soyons pas pressés!	Let's not be in a rush!
Ne soyez pas!	Don't be	Ne soyez pas tristes!	Don't be sad!

Gerund

The French gerund is a combination of the preposition “en” and the present participle. The present participle of être is “étant“.

The gerund of être is “en étant”, which translates to “while being”.

·         J’ai trouvé mon premier boulet en étant un étudiant en Asie.
I found my first job while being a student in Asia.

The present participle “étant” as a second usage. When placed before the past participle of one of the verbs which uses être as an auxiliary verb in the passé composé, it means “having”. For example:

·         Étant arrivé à l’heure, j’ai pu diner avec la famille.
Having arrived on time, I was able to have dinner with the family.

Auxiliary verb in passé composé for intransitive and reflexive verbs

The verb être is used as an auxiliary (helping) verb to for the passé composé for both intransitive verbs (verbs where the subject and object are the same) and reflexive verbs.

Aller = to go		Se laver = to wash oneself
Je suis allé(e)	I went	Je me suis lavé(e)	I washed myself
Tu es allé(e)	You went (familar)	Tu t'es lavé(e)	You washed yourself (familiar)
Il, elle, on est allé(e)	He, she, one went	Il, elle, on s'est lavé(e)	He, she, one washed him, her, oneself
Nous sommes allé(e)s	We went	Nous nous sommes lavé(e)s	We washed ourselves
Vous êtes allé(e)(s)	You went (formal, plural)	Vous vous êtes lavé(e)(s)	You washed yourself(ves) (formal, plural)
Ils, elles sont sont allé(e)s	They went	Ils, elles se sont lavé(e)s	They washed themselves.

Pronounce the forms of “être” like an expert!
In addition to mastering the basic conjugations, it’s of vital importance to know know how to pronounce the various forms of être and how to use them in “real” modern conversation.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Aller Conjugation: How To Conjugate The Verb To Go In French

Complete aller conjugation tables

The French verb aller means to go and is one of the most common verbs in the French language. The conjugation of aller in the present tense is: Je vais (I go), Tu vas (You go, familiar), Il, elle va (He, she goes), Nous allons (We go), Vous allez (You go, plural and formal), Ils, elles vont (They go).

Aller is also one of the top irregular verbs in French. This means that the conjugation pattern of aller in the present tense is different to other regular verbs in the -er verb category, such as parler (to speak).

Aller is used in sentences having to do with “going”, expression and greetings such as “ça va?” (How’s it going) and a future tense where it’s used as an auxiliary verb.

This post will provide the aller verb conjugation tables in all the major verb tenses including:

·         the present tense (le présent de l’indicatif)

·         past indefinite (passé composé), simple past (passé simple)

·         imperfect (imparfait)

·         pluperfect (plus-que-parfait)

·         near future (futur proche)

·         future tense (futur simple)

·         past future (futur antérieur)

·         conditional (conditionnel)

·         past conditional (passé du conditionnel)

·         subjunctive, imperative (impératif)

·         subjunctive (subjonctif).

Aller also appears as a reflexive verb. “S’en aller” means to leave or to be on one’s way. This post will also explore the present tense conjugation of s’en aller and how to use this verb.

Uses of aller

The verb aller appears in various expressions circumstances where you would not expect to see the verb “to go”.

Going places

The most basic and common usage of pertains to going places. Here are some examples.

·         Je vais à la piscine. I’m going to the pool.

·         Nous allons à la fête. We’re going to the party.

·         Vous allez au cinéma. You’re going to the movies.

 

French greetings

Aller is used extensively in French greetings. In English, we use “How’s it going?” as a near equivalent. Here are the most common French greetings which use aller.

·         Ça va? How’s it going? (infomral)

·         Comment ça va? How’s it going? (Tiny bit more formal)

·         Comment vas-tu? How are you? (infomral)

·         Comment allez-vous? How are you? (formal)

Near future tense

Aller is also used as an auxiliary (helping) verb to form the futur proche, or near future tense. This tense is considered a “compound tense” because it’s comprised of two components: a helping verb verb and an infinitive. The near future tense is the “going to” tense. Here are some examples.

·         Je vais dîner. I’m going to have dinner.

·         Elle va manger. She’s going to eat.

·         Ils vont voyager. They’re going to travel.

Clothing, accessories and jewelry

A less common usage of aller has to do with expressing how clothing, accessories and jewelry look on a person.

·         Ma chemise me va bien. My shirt looks good on me.

·         Tes lunettes te vont bien. Your glasses look good on you.

Aller conjugation charts

The following aller conjugation tables contain all the commonly used verb tenses. We’ve provided many example sentences for teach tense.

Present tense aller

The following table shows aller conjugated in the present tense. In French, “Je vais” translates to “I go” and “I am going”.

Aller conjugation - present tense	English	Example sentence	English
Je vais	I go	Je vais je vais à l'école	I go to the school.
Tu vas	You go (familiar)	Tu vas au magasin.	You go to the store.
Il, elle, on va	He, she, one goes	Elle va au travail.	She goes to work.
Nous allons	We go	Nous allons au parc.	We go to the park.
Vous allez	You go (plural, formal)	Vous allez à la bibliothèque.	You go to the library.
Ils, elles vont	They go	Ils vont au restaurant.	They go to the restaurant.

 

Passé composé

When conjugated in the passé composé, aller uses the auxiliary verb être. This is because aller is an intransitive verb, meaning that the the subject and the object are one in the same.

This page explains the French passé composé in detail.

Aller passé composé	English	French example	English
Je suis allé(e)	I went	Je suis allé à l'université.	I went to the university.
Tu es allé(e) (familiar)	You went	Tu es allé à Paris.	You went to Paris.
Il, elle, on est allé(e)	He she, one went	Il est allé au Canada.	He went to Canada.
Nous sommes allé(e)s	We went	Nous sommes allés au magasin.	We went to the store.
Vous êtes allé(e)(s) (plural, formal)	You went	Vous êtes allés en France.	You (plural) went to France.
Ils, elles sont allé(e)s	They went	Elles sont allées au magasin.	They went to the store.

Simple past

The passé simple is a literary past tense that equates grammatically to the passé composé. While not necessary to memorize, it’s important to recognize the passé simple when reading.

For the purpose of reading literature, it’s important to recognize il/elle alla (he/she went) as well as ils/elles allèrent (they went).

Aller passé simple	English	French example	English
J'allai	I went	J'allai avec vous.	I went with you.
Tu allas (familiar)	You went	Tu allas à Lille.	You went to Lille.
Il, elle alla	He, she went	Elle alla à la banque.	She went to the bank.
Nous allâmes	We went	Nous allâmes au stade.	We went to the stadium.
Vous allâtes (formal, plural)	You went	Vous allâtes au concert.	You went to the concert.
Ils, elles allèrent	They went	Ils allèrent en Pologne.	They went to Poland.

Imperfect tense

In the imparfait (imperfect tense), j’allais translates to both “I used to go” and “I was going”. This is in contrast to the passe compose where “Je suis allé” indicates “I went” at a specific moment in time.

Aller imperfect	English	French example	English
J'allais	I used to go, was going	J'allais à l'église quand j'étais un enfant.	I used to go to church when I was a child.
Tu allais (familiar)	You used to go, were going	Tu allais à l'école avec ton frère.	You used to go to school with your brother.
Il, elle allait	He, she, one used to go, was going	Elle y allait trois fois par an.	She used to go three times per year.
Nous allions	We used to go, were going	Nous allions en France aux années 80.	We used to go to France in the 1980s.
Vous alliez (plural, fomral)	You used to go, were going	Vous alliez au restaurant avant la pandémie.	You used to go to the restaurant before the pandemic.
Ils, elles allaient	They used to go, were going	Ils y allaient de temps en temps.	They used to go (there) from time to time.

Plus-que-parfait

The plus-que-parfait (pluperfect) is used to describe a past action that occurred prior to another past action.

For the verb aller, the plus-que-parfait is formed by combining the verb être in the imperfect with the past participle.

Hence, “J’étais allé(e)” means “I had gone” or “I’d gone”.

Aller plus-que-parfait	English	French example	English
J'étais allé(e)	I had gone	Je ne suis pas allé hier parce que j'étais allé mardi.	I didn't go yesterday because I'd gone Tuesday.
Tu étais allé(e) (familiar)	You had gone	Tu n'est pas allé à midi parce que tu étais allé ce matin.	You didn't go at noon because you'd gone this morning.
Il, elle, on était allé(e)	He, she, one had gone	Elle n'est pas aller en november parce qu'elle était allée en octobre.	She didn't go in November because she had gone in October.
Nous étions allé(e)s	We had gone	Nous ne sommes pas allés en 2019 parce que nous étions allés en 2018.	We didn't go in 2019 because we'd gone in 2018.
Vous étiez allé(e)(s) (plural, formal)	You had gone	Vous n'êtes pas allé avec Marie parce que vous étiez allé avec Sylvie.	You didn't go with Marie because you'd gone with Sylvie.
Ils, elles étaient allé(e)s	They had gone	Ils ne sont pas allés en 2005 parce qu'ils étaient allés en 2004.	They didn't go in 2005 because they'd gone in 2004.

Le futur proche

The futur proche, or near future tense is used to express actions in the future which are expected to occur will occur with a high level of certainty.

The future proche is compound tense, meaning that it is formed with to components: The present tense of aller as an auxiliary (helping verb) plus the infinitive of aller.

Hence, “Je vais aller” translates to both “I’m going to go” and “I will go”.

Aller near future	English	French example	English
Je vais aller	I'm going to go	Je vais aller aux toilettes.	I'm going go to the bathroom.
Tu vas aller (informal)	You're going to go	Tu vas à la banque.	You're going to go to the bank.
Il, elle, on va aller	He, she one is going to go	Elle va aller au magasin.	She's going to go to the store.
Nous allons aller	We're going to go	Nous allons aller au concert.	We're going to go to the concert.
Vous allez aller (plural, formal)	You're going to go	Vous aller aller a l'école.	You're going to go to school.
Ils, elles vont aller	They're going to go	Ils vont aller à l'église.	They're going to go to church.

Simple future

The futur simple, or simple future is another French future tense. The difference between the futur simple and the futur proche is that the futur simple suggests a slightly less degree of certainty.

It is called the futur “simple” because it is only comprised of one word and not two like the futur proche.

To conjugated aller in the futur simple, add the appropriate endings to the irregular stem -ir.

Aller futur simple	English	French example	English
J'irai	I will go	J'irai en France.	I will go to France.
Tu iras (familiar)	You will go	You iras au Mexique.	You will go to Mexico.
Il, elle, on ira	He, she, one will go	Elle ira au Japon.	She will go to Japan.
Nous irons	We will go	Nous irons à Chamonix.	We will go to Chamonix.
Vous irez (plural, formal)	You will go	Vous irez en Argentine.	You will go to Argentina.
Ils, elles iront	They will go	Ils iront à Paris.	They will go to Paris.

Futur antérieur

The futur antérieur or past future describes actions that will have occurred in the future. It is a compound tense, formed by combing être (to be) in the futur simple with the past participle of aller.

Hence, “Je serai allé(e)” means I would have gone.

Aller futur antérieur	English	Example sentence	English
Je serai allé(e)	I will have gone	Je serai allé avant 18h00.	I will have gone before 6.00pm.
Tu seras allé(e) (familiar)	You will have gone	Tu seras allé d'ici la fin du mois.	You will have gone by the end of the month.
Il, elle, on sera allé(e)	He, she, one will have gone	Il sera allé avant Martin.	He will have gone before Martin.
Nous serons allé(e)s	We will have gone	Nous serons allés avant l'autre famille.	We will have gone before the other family.
Vous serez allé(e)(s) (plural, formal)	You will have gone	Vous serez allés avant tout le monde.	You will have gone before everybody.
Ils, elles seront allé(e)s	They will have gone	Ils seront allés avant Noël.	They will have gone before Christmas.

Conditional

The conditionnel or conditional is used to describe hypothetical or “would” situations. It is formed by adding the conditional ending to the same -ir stem that is used for the futur simple.

“J’irais” translates to “I would go”. The conditional is often combined with the imperfect to form “if…then” scenario sentences.

For example, “J’irais en France si j’avais assez de temps.” (I’d go to France If I had enough time).

Aller conditional	English	Example sentence	English
J'irais	I would go	J'irais au Canda si la frontière était ouverte.	I would go to Canada if the border were open.
Tu irais (familiar)	You would go	Tu irais au Japon si tu parlais le japonais.	You would go to Japan if you spoke Japanese.
Il, elle, on irait	He, she, one would go	Il irait en Espagne s'il avait plus d'argent.	He would go to Spain if he had more money.
Nous irions	We would go	Nous irions avec vous mais ce n'est pas possible.	We would go with you but it's not possible.
Vous iriez (plural, formal)	You would go	Vous iriez au Québec mais il fait trop froid en ce moment.	You would go to Quebec but it's too cold now.
Ils, elles iraient	They would go	Ils iraient avec nous mais nous ne partons pas.	They would go with us but we are not leaving.

Past conditional

The passé du conditionnel or past conditional is used to express regrets for actions which did or did not happen.

It is formed by combining être in the present conditional as an auxiliary (helping) verb with the past participle of aller.

Hence, “Je serais allé(e)” means “I would have gone” and “Je ne serais pas allé(e)” means “I wouldn’t have gone”.

In the example sentences below, we combine the plus-que-parfait with the past conditional to create anteriority.

Aller past conditinal	English	Example sentence	English
Je serais allé(e)	I would have gone	Je serais allé si j'avais eu assez le temps.	I would have gone if I'd had enough time.
Tu serais allé(e) (familiar)	You would have gone	Tu serais allé si tu avais eu assez d'argent.	You would have gone if you'd had enough money.
Il, elle serait allé(e)	He, she would have gone	Il ne serais pas allé s'il avait su la vérité.	He wouldn't have gone if he'd known the truth.
Nous serions allé(e)s	We would have gone	Nous serions allés si avions eu une voiture.	We would have gone if we'd had a car.
Vous seriez allé(e)(s) (formal, plural)	You would have gone	Vous seriez allé si vous aviez eu un billet.	You would have gone if you'd had a ticket.
Ils, elles seraient allé(e)s	They would have gone	Ils seraient allés s'ils avaient plus de temps libre.	They would have gone if they'd had more free time.

Imperative

The imperatif or imperative is the tense that’s used for giving both positive and negative commands.

In addition to the context of actually “going”, the French use expressions with aller in the imperative to mean “go ahead”, as in “you go first” when speaking in a conversation or waiting in line.

We’ll see some example sentences with this usage in the table below. In the examples below “y” means there.

Affirmative imperative

Aller affirmative imperative	English	Example	English
Va! (tu form, familiar)	Go!	Vas-y!	Go ahead!
Allons!	Let's go!	Allons-y!	Let's go
Allez! (plural, formal)	Go!	Allez-y!	Go ahead!

Negative imperative

Aller negative imperative	English	Example	English
Ne va pas!	Don't go!	N'y va pas!	Don't go there!
N'allons pas!	Let's not go!	N'y allons pas!	Let's not go there!
N'allez pas!	Don't go!	N'y allez pas!	Don't go there!

Subjunctive

The subjonctif or subjunctive is used for expressing wish, emotions and doubts.

For example, “Je veux que tu ailles” means “I want you to go”. In this sentence, the verb “ailles” appears in the subjunctive form because 1) There are two subjects separated by “que” and 2) The sentence has an element of wish or desire.

Aller subjunctive	English	Example sentence	English
que j'aille	that I go	Il faut que j'aille en France.	I have to go to France.
que tu ailles (familiar)	that you go	Je veux que tu ailles à Paris.	I want you to go to Paris.
qu'il, elle aille	that he, she goes	Il faut qu'elle aille avant nous.	She has to go before us.
que nous allions	that we go	Ils veulent que nous allions avant Noël.	They want us to go before Christmas.
que vous alliez (formal, plural)	that you go	Il faut que vous alliez d'ici la fin de l'année.	You need to go before the end of the year.
qu'ils, elles aillent	That they go	Nous voulons qu'ils y aillent avant nous.	We want them to go there before us.

 

Reflexive verb s’en aller

The reflexive verb s’en aller means to leave or to be off, or on one’s way. In spoken French, it’s often used in the present tense to announce departure.

In the the affirmative imperative s’en aller is used to mean “scram” or “get out of here”. For example, “Va t’en!” is “Scram!” in the familiar form and “Allez vous-en!” is “Scram!” in the plural or formal form.

S'en aller present tense	English	French example	English
Je m'en vais	I'm off, am leaving	Salut tout le monde! Je m'en vais!	Bye everybody! I'm leaving!
Tu t'en vas (familiar)	You're off, are leaving	Pourquoi est-ce que tu e'en vas?	Whey are you leaving?
Il, elle, on s'en va	He, she, one is off, is leaving	Je pense qu'elle s'en va.	I think she's leaving.
Nous nous en allons	We're off, are leaving	C'est la fin de la soirée. Nous nous en allons.	The evening is over. We're leaving.
Vous vous en allez (plural, formal)	You're off, are leaving	Est-ce que vous vous en allez?	Are you leaving?
Ils, elles s'en vont	They're off, are leaving	Ils s'en vont avant nous.	They're leaving before us.

 

 

 

Faire Conjugation: How To Conjugate To Make/Do In French

Conjugation tables for faire in French

The French verb faire is one of the most commonly used verbs in the language. The two main meanings of faire are “to make” and “to do”. The present tense conjugation of faire is: Je fais (I do), Tu fais (You do, familiar), Il, elle fait (He, she does), Nous faisons (We do), Vous faites (You do, plural, formal) and Ils, elles font (They do). Keep reading to find the complete Faire conjugation tables with example sentences.

The verb faire is also used in a wide variety of idiomatic expressions.

Faire is an irregular verb. This means that when conjugated in the present tense, its verb endings to not follow the same patterns as regular verbs in the -er group.

This post provides verb tables of faire in the following tenses:

·         present tense, compound past (passé composé)

·         simple past (passé simple)

·         imperfect (imparfait)

·         near future (futur proche)

·         simple future (futur simple)

·         past future (futur antérieur)

·         conditional mood (présent du conditionnel)

·         present subjunctive (subjonctif)

·         imperative (impératif) and gerund.

Idiomatic Uses of Faire: How to use this versatile verb

The French verb faire is used in many French idiomatic and cultural expressions. We’ve included lots of these idiomatic expressions in our example sentences in the verb tables below.

Weather expressions with faire

The following is a sample list of French weather expressions which use faire. The grammatical construction is: Il fait + weather condition. Here you can find a complete list of French weather terms.

·         Il fait beau. It’s nice weather.

·         Il fait mauvais. It’s bad weather.

·         Il fait froid. It’s cold out.

·         Il fait chaud. It’s hot out.

·         Il fait du soleil. It’s sunny out.

·         Il fait du vent. It’s windy out.

Sports and activities

Faire is also used for sports, activities and hobbies. The grammatical structure is faire + de + le/la/les + activity name. The de + le/la/les gets contracted into du, de la and d’. Below we’ve included a brief list.

·         Faire du sport to do sports

·         Faire des exercises to do exercises

·         Faire du vélo to go bike riding

·         Faire du ski to go skiing

·         Faire de la natation To go swimming

·         Faire de la randonnée To go hiking

Common faire expressions

Here are some of the most commonly used expressions which use the verb faire. There are many more uses faire.

·         Faire du shopping to go shopping

·         Faire des courses to do errands, go shopping

·         Faire le ménage to do housework

·         Faire la vaisselle to do dishes

·         Faire la lessive to do laundry

·         Faire le pont to take a long weekend

·         Faire les devoirs to do homework

·         Faire attention to be careful, watch out

·         Faire la fête to party

·         Faire le lit to make the bed

·         Faire la tête to sulk

This page provides much more extensive list of faire expressions.

Causative construction

In French grammar, faire is used in what’s called the causative construction to indicate having something done.

The grammatical construction faire + infinitive is used to express having something done (by somebody else).

·         Je fais réparer la voiture. I have the car repaired.

·         Je fais faire un costume. I have a suit made.

·         Je fais nettoyer la cuisine. I have the kitchen cleaned.

School subjects

The verb faire can also be used for studying ‘doing’ school. Again the grammatical construction is faire + de + le/la/les + subject. This page offers a complete list of French school subject vocabulary.

·         J’ai fait du Chinois à l’université. I studied Chinese in university.

·         Marie fait de la biologie au lycée. Marie studies biology in high school.

·         Pierre fait des maths au collège. Pierre studies math in middle school.

Se faire – forme pronominale

Following the causative form above, se faire + infinitive means to have somebody else carry out an action onto the subject. Here are two examples.

·         Martin se fait vacciner. Martin gets vaccinated.

·         Éric se fait rouler. Eric gets ripped off.

In an impersonal expression se faire translates to “is it that”.

·         Comment se fait-il qu’il est arrivé si tard? How is it that he arrived so late?

Se faire is a passive voice to mean “is done”.

·         Ça se fait pas en France! That isn’t done in France! (You don’t do that in France!)

Distance

Faire can mean to cover in terms of covering distance.

·         J’ai fait huit cent miles en un jour. I covered (went) 800 miles in one day.

Faire Conjugation French: Charts & Tables

Present Indicative (present tense)

The following chart shows faire conjugated in the present tense (le présent de l’indicatif).

Je fais	I make, do	Je fais mon lit.	I make my bed.
Tu fais	You make, do (familiar)	Tu fais un voyage en France.	You take a trip to France.
Il, elle, on fait	He, she, on makes, does	Elle fait du jogging au parc.	She jogs in the park.
Nous faisons	We make, do	Nous faisons un gâteau pour ton anniversaire.	We make a cake for your birthday.
Vous faites	You make, do (formal, plural)	Vous faites du shopping avant la fête.	You go shopping before the party.
Ils, elles font	They make, do	Ils font grève aujourd'hui.	They're on strike today.

Compound past (passé composé)

The French passé composé is used to describe actions which occurred at a specific moment in time. For the verb faire, it the passé composé is formed by combining the present tense of the verb avoir (to have) with the past participle “fait”.

J'ai fait	I made, did	J'ai fait une bêtise.	I made a mistake.
Tu as fait	You make, did (familiar)	Tu as fait un effort.	You make an effort (or you tried).
Il, elle, on a fait	He, she, one made, did	Elle a fait une pizza pour les enfants.	She made a pizza for the kids.
Nous avons fait	We made, did	Nous avons fait un voyage en Espagne.	We took a trip to France.
Vous avez fait	You made, did (plural, formal)	Vous avez fait du ski en Argentine.	You went skiing in Argentina.
Ils, elles on fait	The made, did	Ils ont fait le tour du monde en 80 jours.	They traveled around the whole world in 80 days.

Simple past (passé simple)

The simple past or passé simple is a literary past tense and equates grammatically to the passé composé.

Given that this tense is mostly used used in literary works, it’s most common to see the third-person singular (il and elle) and third-person plural (ils, elles) forms: Il/elle fit and Ils/elles firent.

Je fis	I made, did	Je fis un voyage en Europe.	I took a trip to Europe.
Tu fis	You made, did (familiar)	Tu fis un grand chef-d'œuvre.	You make a great masterpiece.
Il, elle, on fit	He, she, one made, did	Elle fit un beau tableau.	She made a beautiful painting.
Nous fîmes	We made, did	Nous fîmes connaissance il y 20 ans.	We met 20 years ago.
Vous fîtes	You made, did (plural, fomral)	Vous fîtes construire le pont.	You had the bridge built.
Ils, elles firent	They made, did	Ils firent démolir le bâtiment.	They had the building demolished.

Imperfect (imparfait)

The French imperfect tense (l’imparfait) is used for describing past actions that occurred during undefined periods of time.

“Je faisais” translates to “I used to do”, I used to make”, “I was doing” and “I was making”.

Thus, in the verb table below, translations include “was making”, “was doing”, “used to make” and “used to do”.

Je faisais	I was doing, used to do / was making, used to make	Je faisais mes devoirs quand tu as téléphoné.	I was doing my homework when you called.
Tu faisais	You were doing, used to do / were making, used to make (familiar)	Tu faisais du ski quand tu étais un enfant.	You used to ski when you were a child.
Il, elle, on faisait	He, she one was doing, used to do / was making, used to make	Elle faisait une pizza quand papa est retourné à la maison.	She was making a pizza when dad came home.
Nous faisions	We were doing, used to do / were making, used to make	Nous faisions nos devoirs quand tu as appelé.	We were doing our homework when you called.
Vous faisiez	You were doing, used to do / were making, used to make (formal, plural)	Vous faisiez du français quand tu étais un étudiant.	You studied French when you were a student.
Ils, elles faisaient	They were doing, used to do / were making, used to make	Ils faisaient de la voile quand ils étaient au lycée.	They used to sail when they were in high school.

Near future (futur proche)

The near future tense is a future tense that combines the present tense of aller as an auxiliary verb with and infinitive. Hence, “Je vais faire” translates to “I will make”, “I will do”, “I am going to make” and “I am going to do”.

Je vais faire	I am going to make, do	Je fais faire un gâteau.	I'm going to make a cake.
Tu vas faire	You're going to make, do (familiar)	Tu vas faire du ski ce week-end.	You're going to go skiing this weekend.
Il, elle, on va faire	He, she, one is going to make, do	Elle va faire une pizza pour sa famille.	She's going to make a pizza for her family.
Nous allons faire	We are going to make, do	Nous allons faire un voyage ensemble.	We are going to take a trip together.
Vous allez faire	You are going to make, do (plural, formal)	Vous allez faire des exercises au parc.	You are going to exercise in the park.
Ils, elles vont faire	They are going to make, do	Ils vont chanter devant le public.	They are going to sing in front of the audience.

Simple future (futur simple)

The simple future is another French future tense which has a slightly less degree of certainty than the futur proche. For the verb faire, it is formed by adding the appropriate ending the stem -fer.

Je ferai	I will make, do	Je ferai du ski ce week-end s'il fait beau.	I will go skiing this weekend if it's nice weather out.
Tu feras	You will make, do (familiar)	Tu feras un voyage cet ete si tu as assez de temps.	You will take a trip this summer if you have enough time.
Il, elle, on fera	He, she, on will make, do	J'espère qu'il fera beau ce week-end.	I hope it will be nice out this weekend.
Nous ferons	We will make, do	Nous ferons une salade niçoise pour le dîner.	We will make a Nicoise salad for dinner.
Vous ferez	You will make, do (plural, formal)	Vous ferez de la natation si la piscine est ouverte.	You will go swimming if the pool is open.
Ils, elles feront	They will make, do	Ils feront les valises avant de partir en vacances.	They will pack their bags before going on vacation.

Past future (futur antérieur)

The French past future tense (futur antérieur) is used to describe actions that will have happened in the future. For the verb faire, it is formed by combining avoir in the simple future as an auxiliary verb with the past participle “fait”.

Hence, “J’aurai fait” translates to “I will have made” or “I will have done”.

J'aurai fait	I will have made, done	J'aurai fait mon lit avant de quitter la maison.	I will have made my bed before leaving the house.
Tu auras fait	You will have made, done (familiar)	Tu auras fait tes devoirs d'ici 21h00.	You will have done your home work by 9.00pm.
Il, elle, on aura fait	He, she, one will have made, done	Elle aura fait des progrès d'ici la fin de l'année.	She will have made progress by the end of the year.
Nous aurons fait	We will have made, done	Nous aurons fait du ski avant la fin de la saison.	We will have skied before the end the season.
Vous aurez fait	You will have made, done (plural, formal)	Quand il arrivera, vous auriez fait une pizza.	When he arrives, you will have made a pizza.
Ils, elles aurons fait	They will have made, done	Ils auront fait du shopping avant l'arrivé des invités.	They will have gone shopping before the arrival of the guests.

Conditional mood (présent du conditionnel)

The conditional tense (présent du conditionnel) is used to express hypothetical situations. It is the “would” tense. For the verb faire, it is formed by combing the appropriate ending with the stem -fer.

Hence, “Je ferais” translates to “I would make” and “I would do”.

Je ferais	I would make, do	Je ferais mes devoirs si j'avais assez de temps.	I would do my homework if I had enough time.
Tu ferais	You would make, do (familiar)	Tu ferais un voyage si tu avais assez de d'argent.	You would take a trip if you had enough money.
Il, elle, on ferait	He, she, one would make, do	Il ferait du ski s'il y avait assez de neige.	He would go skiing if there was enough snow.
Nous ferions	We would make, do	Nous ferions une pizza si nous avions plus de fromage.	We would make a pizza if we had more cheese.
Vous feriez	You would make, do (plural, formal)	Vous feriez moins de bêtises si vous faisiez plus attention.	You would make few mistakes if you paid closer attention.
Ils, elles feraient	They would make, do	Ils feraient constuire une maison s'ils avaient un prêt bancaire.	They would build a house if they had a bank loan.

Present subjunctive (subjonctif)

The subjunctive mood (subjonctif) is used to express wishes, emotions and doubts. Thus, “que je fasse” translates to “that I make” and “that I do”.

que je fasse	that I make, do	Il faut que je fasse mes devoirs.	I have to do my homework.
que tu fasses	that you make, do (familiar)	Je veux que tu fasses une pizza.	I want you to make a pizza.
qu'il, elle, on fasse	that he, she, one makes, does	Je doute qu'il fasse son travail.	I doubt he's doing his work.
que nous fassions	that we make, do	Il faut que nous fassions plus attention.	We have to pay closer attention.
que vous fassiez	that you make, do (formal, plural)	Je suis content que vous fassiez du progrès.	I'm glad you're making progress.
qu'ils, elles fassent	that they make, do	Je souhaite qu'ils fassent un repas.	I hope they make a meal.

 

Imperative (impératif)

The French imperative mood (impératif) is the commanding tense. Hence, in the affirmative imperative and tu (you familiar) form, “Fais!” means “Make!” or “Do!”.

In the negative imperative and tu form, “Ne fais pas!” translates to “Don’t make!” or “Don’t do!”.

Positive imperative

Fais!	Make! Do! (tu, familiar form of you)	Fais tes devoirs!	Do you homework!
Faisons!	Let's make! Let's do!	Faisons du ski!	Let's go skiing!
Faites!	Make! Do! (vous, formal and plural you)	Faites attention!	Watch out!

Negative imperative

Ne fais pas!	Don't make! Don't do!	Ne fais pas ça!	Don't do that!
Ne faisons pas!	Let's not make! Let's not do!	Ne faisons pas comme les autres!	Let's not do things like everybody else!
Ne faites pas!	Don't make! Don't do!	Ne faites pas de bêties!	Do make any silly mistakes!

Gerund (gérondif)

The French gerund combines the preposition “en” with the present participle of the verb. Hence, for the verb faire, “en faisant” translates to “while doing” or “while making. Here are some example sentences:

·         Je me suis coupé le doigt en faisant la cuisine. I cut my finger while cooking.

·         Tu as pris de belles photos en faisant du ski. You took some nice pictures while skiing.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Avoir Conjugation: How To Conjugate To Have In French

Conjugation tables for avoir in French

The French verb avoir is one of the single most important verbs in the French language. The meaning of avoir is “to have”. The present tense conjugation of avoir is: J’ai (I have), tu as (you have), il, elle a (he, she has), nous avons (we have), vous avez (you have) and ils, elles ont (they have). Keep reading to find the complete avoir conjugation tables with example sentences.

Avoir is an irregular verb. This is because while the infinitive (to form) ends in -ir, the verb’s endings in the present tense do not follow the same pattern as regular verb in the -ir group, such as finir.

 

There are many forms of avoir as it appears in many tenses. This page will examine the various conjugation charts for each tense including the present tense, passé composé, imperfect, passé simple, pluperfect, future tense, near future, conditional, past conditional as well as present, past subjunctive and imperative.

This page will also examine several of the common avoir expressions such as avoir besoin de (to need) and avoir envie de (to want, fancy).

We suggest that you do not try to memorize this page all at once. The best way to learn the conjugations of avoir is to focus on one tense at a time, starting with the present tense and passé composé.

It also helps to go over the verb with French teacher. Here, you can learn about Frenchlearner.com’s private lessons.

French verb avoir conjugation in six tenses

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Uses of avoir

The French verb avoir is very versatile and is used in specific “avoir expressions”. These are expressions where avoir is used in French where “to be” would be used in English.

1. Expressing Age

To say how old you are in French say: J’ai  + number + ans, which translate to, “I have x years”. For example:

·         J’ai vingt ans. I’m twenty years-old.

·         Marie a dix-sept ans. Marie is seventeen years-old.

Do not say “Je suis vingt ans” because that would be wrong. You cannot use the verb être (to be) in expressing age in French. This page covers how to say your age in French.

2. Describing feelings and states of mind

·         avoir faim to be hungry

·         avoir soif to be thirsty

·         avoir froid to be cold

·         avoir chaud to be hot

·         avoir _ ans to be _ years-old

·         avoir besoin to need

·         avoir envie to want

·         avoir peur to be afraid, fear

·         avoir raison to be right

·         avoir tort to be wrong

 

Expressing need, want and desire

Avoir besoin de + noun (or infinitive) means “to need” in French. For example:

·         J’ai besoin d’argent. I need money.

·         J’ai besoin d’une voiture. I need a car.

·         J’ai besoin d’étudier. I need to study.

·         J’ai besoin de travailler. I need to study.

Avoir envie de + noun (or infinitive) means to want, fancy or desire. For example:

·         J’ai envie d’une pizza. I want a pizza.

·         J’ai envie de manger une pizza. I want to eat a pizza.

·         J’ai envie de parler avec mon ami. I want to speak with my friend.

·         J’ai envie d’apprendre le français. I want to learn French.

To express how somebody seems

Avoir l’air + adjective means “to seem”. For example:

·         La fille a l’air heureuse. The girl seems happy

·         Le garçon a l’air fatigué. The boy seems tired

·         L’homme a l’air sympathique. The man seems nice.

·         La femme a l’air gentille. The woman seems nice.

Avoir conjugation charts in common verb tenses

The following section show the different forms of avoir in the various verb tenses.

Present tense (present indicative)

Avoir is an irregular verb. This means that although the infinitive (or ‘to’ form) ends in -ir, its conjugation pattern in the present tense does not follow the pattern of regular -ir verbs.

The following table shows the conjugation of the verb avoir in the present tense (also called the present indicative).

Subject pronoun	Verb ending	Example	English
Je	ai	J'ai un chien.	I have a dog.
Tu	as	Tu as un chat.	You have a cat.
Il/elle/on	a	Elle a une maison.	She has a house.
Nous	avons	Nous avons une voiture.	We have a car.
Vous	avez	Vous avez un ordinateur.	You have a computer.
Ils, elles	ont	Ils ont une télévision.	They have a television.

Passé composé

The passé composé (past indefinite or compound past) is a French past tense used to describe past events which occurred at specific times. It is referred to as a “compound tense” because it combines the present tense of avoir with a past participle.

In the case of conjugating avoir in the passé composé “j’ai” is combined with “eu” to form “j’ai eu”, which means I had. The “ai” is an auxiliary or helping verb and “eu” is the past participle (had).

Avoir in passé composé	English	Example sentence	Translation
J'ai eu	I had	J'ai eu la grippe.	I had the flu.
Tu as eu	You had (familiar)	J'ai eu votre lettre.	I received your letter.
Il, elle, on a eu	He, she, one had	Elle a eu une bonne note.	She got a good grade.
Nous avons eu	We had	Nous avons eu les bonnes nouvelles.	We got the good news.
Vous avez eu	You had (formal, plural)	Vous avez eu peur.	You were afraid.
Ils, elles ont eu	Ils ont eu	Ils ont eu besoin de travailler.	They needed to work.

Imperfect tense

The French imperfect tense (l’imparfait de l’indicatif or imperfect indicative) is used to describe actions that used to occur or were occurring over an unspecified period of time.

In the first-person singular (je) form, “j’avais” translates to both “I used to have” and “I was having”. For example, “Quand j’avais quinze ans” translates to “When I was 15 years-old.

Avoir in imperfect	English	Example sentence	English
J'avais	I used to have, was having	J'avais un vélo.	I used to have a bike.
Tu avais	You used to have, were having (familiar)	Tu avais froid.	You were cold.
Il, elle, on avait	He, she, one used to have, was having	Il avait faim.	He was hungry.
Nous avions	We used to have, were having	Nous avions très peur.	We were very afraid.
Vous aviez	You used to have, were having (formal, plural)	Vous aviez bessoin de vendre la maison.	You needed to sell the house.
Ils, elles avaient	They used to have	Ils avaient envie de manger.	They wanted to eat.

Passé Simple

The French passé simple (simple past) is a literary past tense that used in literature and publications. While not one hundred percent necessary to know speaking, it’s important to recognize the passé simplé for reading stories.

Grammatically speaking, the passé simple is use wherever the passé composé is used. The passé simple is called a “simple” tense because only one work is needed for each form. There is no auxiliary or helping verb.

Avoir in passé simple	English	Example sentence	English
J'eus	I had	J'eus de la chance.	I was lucky.
Tu eus	You had (familiar)	Tu eus un rhume.	You had a cold.
Il, elle eut	He, she had	Elle eut les nouvelles.	She got the news.
Nous eûmes	We had	Nous eûmes tort.	We were wrong.
Vous eûtes	You had (formal, plural)	Vous eûtes l'idée.	You had the idea.
Ils, elles eurent	They had	Ils eurent trois enfants.	They had three children.

Pluperfect

The French plus-que-parfait (pluperfect) is used to express anteriority with one past event occurring before another one.

It is formed by expressing auxiliary verb in the imperfect with the past participle. For example, “J’avais eu” means “I’d had” and “tu avais eu” means “you’d had”.

Avoir in pluperfect	English	French example	English
J'avais eu	I had had	Je n'ai pas eu les nouvelles aujourd'hui parce que je les avait eues hier.	I didn't receive the news today because I'd received them yesterday.
Tu avais eu	You had had (familiar)	Tu n'as pas eu la lettre aujourd'hui parce que tu l'as eue heir.	You didn't get the letter today because you'd gotten it yesterday.
Il, elle, on avait eu	He, she, one had had	Il n'a pas eu la grippe ce mois parce qu'il l'a eue le mois passé.	He didn't get the flu this month because he'd had it last month.
Nous avions eu	We'd had	Nous n'avons pas eu le vaccin en juillet parce que nous n'avions eu en juin.	We didn't get the vaccine in July because we'd gotten it in June.
Vous aviez eu	You had had (plural, formal)	Vous n'aviez pas eu la réponse aujourd'hui parce que vous l'aviez eu hier.	You didn't get the reply today because you'd gotten it yeserday.
Ils, elles avaient eu	They had had	Ils n'ont pas eu une réponse ce soir parce qu'ils l'avaient eue ce matin.	They didn't get the answer this evening because they'd gotten it this morning.

Future tense

The French futur simple refers to the future tense (future indicative or simple future). It is called a “simple tense” because only one word is used to form the tense. The futur simple is used to describe future events that are almost 100% certain.

For the verb avoir, the futur simple endings (-ai, -as-, -a, -ons, -ez, -ont) are attached to the stem “aur”. Hence, “j’aurai” translates to “I will have” and “tu auras” translates to “you will have”.

Avoir in futur simple	English	French example	Translation
J'aurai	I will have	J'aurai une nouvelle voiture.	I will have a new car.
Tu auras	You will have (familiar)	Tu auras chaud.	You will be hot.
Il, elle, on aura	He, she, one will have	Elle aura peur.	She will be scared.
Nous aurons	We will have	Nous aurons un bon repas.	We will have a good meal.
Vous aurez	You will have (formal, plural)	Vous aurez faim.	You will be hungry.
Ils, elles auront	They will have	Ils auront envie de manger.	They will want to eat.

Past future

The futur antérieur refers to the past future tense. These are events that will have occurred in the future. For example, “I will have already eaten before you get home”.

The past future for the verb avoir is formed by combing the auxiliary verb in the futur simple (j’aurai) with the past participle (eu).

For example, “J’aurai eu” translates to “I will have had” or “I will have received”. “Tu auras eu” means you will have had or received.

Avoir in passé antérieur	English	Example sentence	English
J'aurai eu	I will have had	J'aurai eu la grippe.	I will have had the flu.
Tu auras eu	You will have had (familiar)	Tu auras eu les nouvelles.	You will have received the news.
Il, elle, on aura eu	He, she, one will have had	Elle aura eu deux enfants.	She will have had two kids.
Nous aurons eu	We will have had	Nous aurons eu une bonne opportunité.	We will have had a good opportunity.
Vous aurez eu	You will have had (formal, plural)	Vous aurez eu de la chance.	You will have been lucky.
Ils, elles auront eu	They will have had	Elles auront eu raison.	They will have been right.

Near future tense

The futur proche (near future tense) is formed with a conjugated form of aller (to go) followed by avoir in the infinitive (to) form.

This future tense is used to express actions in the futre that will occur with a higher level of certainty than the in the futur proche.

For example, “Je vais avoir une bonne note” means “I’m going to get a good grade”. This sentence is being expressed with a high degree of certainty.

Avoir in futur proche	English	French example	Translation
Je vais avoir	I'm going to have	Je vais avoir un petit frère.	I'm going to have a younger brother.
Tu vas avoir	You're going to have (familiar)	Je vais avoir une petite soeur.	You're going to have a little sister.
Il, elle, on va avoir	He, she, one is going to have	Elle va avoir 40 ans.	She's going to turn 40.
Nous allons avoir	We're going to have	Nous allons avoir besoin de travailler.	We're going to need to work.
Vous allez avoir	You're going to have (plural, formal)	Vous allez avoir envie de manger.	You're going to want to eat.
Ils, elles vont avoir	They're going to have	Ils vont avoir faim.	They're going to be hungry.

Conditional

The French conditionnel présent (present conditional) is the “would” tense. The conditional is formed by attaching a set of endings to the same stem as the futur simple (aur).

The endings are: -ais, -ais, -ait, -ions, -iez, -aient. Thus, “j’aurais” translates to “I would have”.

The conditional is used to express actions that would occur if another action was possible. For example, “J’aurais plus de temps si je n’avais pas tant de travail” (I’d have more time if I didn’t have so much work).

Avoir in present conditional	English	French example	English
J'aurais	I would have	J'aurais une belle voiture si j'avais plus d'argent.	I'd have a nice car if I had more money.
Tu aurais	You would have (familiar)	Tu aurais plus de temps si tu n'etais pas si occupé.	You would have more time if you weren't so busy.
Il, elle, on aurait	He, she, one would have	Elle aurait un bon travail si l'économie était plus forte.	She'd have a good job if the economy were stronger.
Nous aurions	We would have	Nous aurions une belle maison si les prix n'étaient pas si élevés.	We'd have a nice house if the prices weren't so high.
Vous auriez	You would have (formal, plural)	Vous auriez plus de chance si vous n'étiez pas tellement paresseux.	You'd have more luck if you weren't so lazy.
Ils, elles auraient	They would have	Ils auraient des enfants mais pour le moment ils se concentrent sur leur travail.	They'd have kids but for now they're focusing on their work.

Past conditional

The French conditionnel passé (or past conditional) refers to action that would have occurred. It is formed by combing the auxiliary verb avoir in the present conditional with the past participle.

For example, “J’aurais eu” translates to “I would have had”. In the negation, “Je n’aurais pas eu” translates to “I wouldn’t have had”.

Avoir in past conditional	English	Example sentence	English
J'aurais eu	I would have had	J'aurais eu une bonne note mais je n'ai pas étudié.	I would have got a good grade but I didn't study.
Tu aurais eu	You would have had (familiar)	Tu aurais eu un bon travail si tu avais étudié.	You would have had a good job if you'd studied.
Il, elle, on aurait eu	He, she, one would have had	Elle aurait eu plus de temps libre si elle avait mieux planifié.	She would have had more free time if she'd planned better.
Nous aurions eu	We would have had	Nous aurions eu une fête si nous avions su que c'était son anniversaire.	We would have had a party if we'd known it was his birthday.
Vous auriez eu	You would have had (plural, formal)	Vous auriez eu une bonne idee si vous aviez mieux réfléchi.	You would have had a good idea if you'd have better thought it over.
Ils, elles auraient eu	They would have had	Ils auraient eu trois voiture si n'avaient pas vendu la Mercedes.	They would have had three cars if they hadn't sold the Mercedes.

Present subjunctive

The présent du subjunctif (present subjunctive) is a mood used for expressing wishes, desires, emotions and doubts. It almost always involved two subjects separated by que (that).

For example, “Je souhaite que tu aies trois enfants” (I want you to have three kids). In this sentence, the conjugated verb “aies” is in the subjunctive form.

Avoir in present subjunctive	English	Example sentence	English
que j'aie	that I have	Elle souhaite que j'aie deux enfants.	She wants me to have two kids.
que tu aies	that you have (familiar)	Je suis content que tu aies un nouveau chien.	I'm happy that you have a new dog.
qu'il/elle ait	that he, she one has	Je doute qu'il ait assez de temps.	I doubt that he has enough time.
que nous ayons	that we have	Il exige que nous ayons une discussion.	He requires that we have a discussion.
que vous ayez	that you have (formal, plural)	Il faut que vous ayez une explication.	You need to have an explanation.
qu'ils/elles aient	that they have	Je veux qu'ils aient un peu plus de patience.	I want them to have a bit more patience.

Past subjunctive

When forming the subjonctif passé (past subjunctive), the auxiliary verb is expressed in the present subjunctive and is combined with the past participle.

For the verb avoir, “que j’aie eu” translates to “that I had” and “que tu aies eu” translates to “that you had”.

The last portion of our subjunctive lesson covers the past subjunctive.

Avoir in past subjunctive	English	Example sentence	English
que j'aie eu	that I had	Elle est ravie que j'aie eu une grande famille.	She's delighted that I had a big family.
que tu aies eu	that you had (familiar)	Je suis content que tu aies eu cette bonne idée.	I'm happy that you had this good idea.
qu'il, elle, on ait eu	that he, she, one had	Je doute qu'il ait eu un bon prétexte.	I doubt he had a good excuse.
que nous ayons eu	that we had	Ils sont contents que nous ayons eu cette opportunité.	They're happy we had this opportunity.
que vous ayez eu	that you had (formal, plural)	Je suis désolé que vous ayez eu ce problème.	I'm sorry you had this problem.
qu'ils, elles aient eu	that they had	Nous sommes contents qu'ils aient eu trois enfants.	We're happy they had three kids.

Imperative

The French imperatif is the imperative mood, which is use for giving commands. When conjugated in the imperative, avoir translates to “Have!” or “Don’t Have!”.

The following table shows avoir in the affirmative imperative (positive commands).

Avoir - affirmative imperative	English	French example	English
Aie! (tu, familiar)	Have!	Aie plus de patience!	Have more patience!
Ayons!	Let's have!	Ayons confiance dans le système!	Let's have trust in the system!
Ayez! (Vous, formal and plural)	Have!	Ayez de l'espoir!	Have hope!

This table shows avoir in the negative affirmative (negative commands).

Avoir - affirmative imperative	English	French example	English
N'aie pas! (tu, familiar)	Do not have!	N'aie pas peur!	Don't be afraid!
N'ayons pas!	Let us not have!	N'ayons pas confiance dans le gouvernement!	Let us no have trust in the government!
N'ayez pas! (Vous, formal and plural)	Do not have!	N'ayez pas peur!	Don't be afraid!

Avoir: auxiliary verb for the passé compose

The passé composé is one of French’s two main past tenses. To form the passé composé, an auxiliary or helping verb is combined with a past participle.

The auxiliary verb can be either avoir or être in the present tense, depending on the verb.

For example, to say “I spoke”, j’ai (I have) is combined with the past participle parlé to form: “J’ai parlé” (I spoke.

The following is the conjugation of parler (to speak) in the passé composé, using avoir as the auxiliary verb.

·         J’ai parlé I spoke

·         Tu as parlé You spoke (familiar)

·         Il, elle, on a parlé He, she, one spoke

·         Nous avons parlé We spoke

·         Vous avez parlé You spoke (plural, formal)

·         Ils, elles ont parlé they spoke

Most French verbs use avoir conjugated in the present tense as the helping verb. Verbs which use avoir as an auxiliary verb tend to be transitive verbs.

A list of both intransitive and reflexive verbs use être in the present tense as an auxiliary verb. This page covers the passé composé in detail.