Skip to content
fluentbyear

FRENCH VERB

dessiner

to draw

  • #240 most used
  • Regular -er verb
  • Past participle: dessiné
  • Present participle: dessinant

Conjugation

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

Present

Présent · now, habits and facts

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

Past

Passé composé · finished actions

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

Imperfect

Imparfait · “used to” and “was …ing”

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

Future

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

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

Conditional

Conditionnel · “would”, polite requests

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

Present subjunctive

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

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

Imperative

Impératif · requests and orders

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

How to use dessiner

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

  1. Present

    Ma fille dessine des chevaux partout.

    My daughter draws horses everywhere.

  2. Past

    Il m'a dessiné un plan pour trouver la maison.

    He drew me a map to find the house.

  3. Imperfect

    Je dessinais pendant les cours de maths.

    I used to draw during maths lessons.

  4. Future

    L'architecte dessinera les plans en mars.

    The architect will draw the plans in March.

  5. Conditional

    Tu me dessinerais un chat pour mon neveu ?

    Would you draw me a cat for my nephew?

  6. Present subjunctive

    Il faut que tu dessines avant de peindre.

    You need to draw before you paint.

  7. Imperative

    Dessine-moi un mouton, comme dans le livre.

    Draw me a sheep, like in the book.

Good to know

  • Dessiner is to draw with a pencil; to draw a curtain is tirer. Un dessin animé is a cartoon.

Verbs like this one

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