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FRENCH VERB

devenir

to become

  • #93 most used
  • Irregular -ir verb
  • Past participle: devenu
  • Present participle: devenant

Conjugation

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

Present

Présent · now, habits and facts

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

Past

Passé composé · finished actions

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

Imperfect

Imparfait · “used to” and “was …ing”

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

Future

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

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

Conditional

Conditionnel · “would”, polite requests

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

Present subjunctive

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

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

Imperative

Impératif · requests and orders

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

How to use devenir

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

  1. Present

    Ça devient difficile de se garer ici.

    It's getting hard to park here.

  2. Past

    Elle est devenue avocate à trente ans.

    She became a lawyer at thirty.

  3. Imperfect

    Le ciel devenait gris, on est rentrés.

    The sky was turning grey, so we went home.

  4. Future

    Tu deviendras un très bon cuisinier.

    You'll become a very good cook.

  5. Conditional

    Sans toi, la vie deviendrait bien triste.

    Without you, life would become really sad.

  6. Present subjunctive

    J'ai peur que ça devienne trop cher.

    I'm afraid it'll get too expensive.

  7. Imperative

    Deviens ce que tu veux, on sera là.

    Become whatever you want, we'll be there.

Good to know

  • Qu'est-ce que tu deviens ? is the friendly how have you been?

Where you hear devenir

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

French · Beginner Level 3

  • À marée haute, le Mont devient une île. At high tide, the Mont becomes an island.
  • Je suis devenue prof à Lyon. I became a teacher in Lyon.
  • Je vais devenir accro ! I'm going to get hooked!
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Back from Brittany

Beginner Level 3 · devenir

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Verbs like this one

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