Skip to content
fluentbyear

FRENCH VERB

cuire

to cook (the food itself)

  • #318 most used
  • Irregular -re verb
  • Past participle: cuit
  • Present participle: cuisant

Conjugation

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

Present

Présent · now, habits and facts

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

Past

Passé composé · finished actions

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

Imperfect

Imparfait · “used to” and “was …ing”

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

Future

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

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

Conditional

Conditionnel · “would”, polite requests

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

Present subjunctive

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

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

Imperative

Impératif · requests and orders

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

How to use cuire

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

  1. Present

    Le poulet cuit depuis une heure, ça sent bon.

    The chicken has been cooking for an hour, it smells good.

  2. Past

    Les légumes ont cuit trop longtemps, ils sont mous.

    The vegetables cooked too long, they're soft.

  3. Imperfect

    Pendant que le riz cuisait, je coupais les oignons.

    While the rice was cooking, I was chopping the onions.

  4. Future

    La tarte cuira en trente minutes à peu près.

    The tart will cook in about thirty minutes.

  5. Conditional

    Ça cuirait plus vite avec un couvercle.

    It would cook faster with a lid.

  6. Present subjunctive

    Il faut que la viande cuise encore dix minutes.

    The meat needs to cook ten more minutes.

  7. Imperative

    Cuisez les pâtes huit minutes, pas plus.

    Cook the pasta for eight minutes, no more.

Good to know

  • Food "cuit" by itself; the cook "fait cuire" it: je fais cuire les pâtes.

Where you hear cuire

The lessons that teach a form of it, and how they say it.

French · Beginner Level 2

  • Le gratin cuit pendant une heure. The gratin cooks for an hour.
  • Le gratin a cuit trop longtemps. The gratin cooked for too long.
  • Ça va cuire pendant une heure. It's going to cook for an hour.
25
Cooking with Sylvie

Beginner Level 2 · cuire

Needs a subscription

Verbs like this one

The same pattern, on other verbs: irregular -re verb.