Skip to content
fluentbyear

FRENCH VERB

découvrir

to discover

  • #213 most used
  • Irregular -ir verb
  • Past participle: découvert
  • Present participle: découvrant

Conjugation

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

Present

Présent · now, habits and facts

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

Past

Passé composé · finished actions

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

Imperfect

Imparfait · “used to” and “was …ing”

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

Future

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

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

Conditional

Conditionnel · “would”, polite requests

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

Present subjunctive

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

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

Imperative

Impératif · requests and orders

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

How to use découvrir

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

  1. Present

    Chaque été, on découvre une nouvelle région.

    Every summer we discover a new region.

  2. Past

    J'ai découvert un petit resto génial près d'ici.

    I found a great little restaurant near here.

  3. Imperfect

    Les enfants découvraient la mer pour la première fois.

    The children were discovering the sea for the first time.

  4. Future

    Vous découvrirez la ville à pied, c'est mieux.

    You'll discover the city on foot, it's better.

  5. Conditional

    On découvrirait plus de choses sans guide.

    We'd discover more without a guide.

  6. Present subjunctive

    Je ne veux pas qu'elle découvre la surprise.

    I don't want her to find out about the surprise.

  7. Imperative

    Découvrez notre menu du jour à l'entrée.

    Discover our daily menu at the entrance.

Good to know

  • Découvrir goes like ouvrir : je découvre, j'ai découvert. Découvrir une ville is to explore it for the first time.

Verbs like this one

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