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fluentbyear

FRENCH VERB

copier

to copy

  • #459 most used
  • Regular -er verb
  • Past participle: copié
  • Present participle: copiant

Conjugation

Tap any form to hear it. The part that changes is in colour.

Present

Présent · now, habits and facts

  1. je I copy
  2. tu you copy
  3. il, elle, on he/she copies
  4. nous we copy
  5. vous you copy
  6. ils, elles they copy

Past

Passé composé · finished actions

  1. je I copied
  2. tu you copied
  3. il, elle, on he/she copied
  4. nous we copied
  5. vous you copied
  6. ils, elles they copied

Imperfect

Imparfait · “used to” and “was …ing”

  1. je I used to copy
  2. tu you used to copy
  3. il, elle, on he/she used to copy
  4. nous we used to copy
  5. vous you used to copy
  6. ils, elles they used to copy

Future

Futur simple · plans; in speech, “je vais parler” is just as common

  1. je I will copy
  2. tu you will copy
  3. il, elle, on he/she will copy
  4. nous we will copy
  5. vous you will copy
  6. ils, elles they will copy

Conditional

Conditionnel · “would”, polite requests

  1. je I would copy
  2. tu you would copy
  3. il, elle, on he/she would copy
  4. nous we would copy
  5. vous you would copy
  6. ils, elles they would copy

Present subjunctive

Subjonctif présent · wishes, doubts, “il faut que …”

  1. je (that) I copy
  2. tu (that) you copy
  3. il, elle, on (that) he/she copy
  4. nous (that) we copy
  5. vous (that) you copy
  6. ils, elles (that) they copy

Imperative

Impératif · requests and orders

  1. tu copy!
  2. nous copy! (let’s)
  3. vous copy! (plural, or formal)

How to use copier

One sentence for each tense, the way people say it.

  1. Present

    Je copie les photos sur une clé USB.

    I'm copying the photos onto a USB stick.

  2. Past

    Il a copié sur son voisin pendant le contrôle.

    He copied from the boy next to him during the test.

  3. Imperfect

    On copiait les paroles des chansons dans un cahier.

    We used to copy song lyrics into a notebook.

  4. Future

    Je copierai l'adresse dans le message, c'est plus simple.

    I'll copy the address into the message, it's simpler.

  5. Conditional

    Tu copierais le fichier sur mon ordinateur ?

    Would you copy the file onto my computer?

  6. Present subjunctive

    Il faut que vous copiiez le lien dans le navigateur.

    You need to copy the link into the browser.

  7. Imperative

    Ne copie pas sa recette, invente la tienne.

    Don't copy her recipe, invent your own.

Good to know

  • Copier-coller is to copy and paste. Copier sur quelqu'un is to copy from someone in a test.

Verbs like this one

The same pattern, on other verbs: regular -er verb.