Skip to content
fluentbyear

FRENCH VERB

échouer

to fail

  • #373 most used
  • Regular -er verb
  • Past participle: échoué
  • Present participle: échouant

Conjugation

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

Present

Présent · now, habits and facts

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

Past

Passé composé · finished actions

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

Imperfect

Imparfait · “used to” and “was …ing”

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

Future

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

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

Conditional

Conditionnel · “would”, polite requests

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

Present subjunctive

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

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

Imperative

Impératif · requests and orders

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

How to use échouer

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

  1. Present

    Beaucoup d'étudiants échouent à ce concours la première fois.

    Many students fail this exam the first time.

  2. Past

    J'ai échoué au permis, encore une fois.

    I failed my driving test, yet again.

  3. Imperfect

    Il échouait toujours à la même question.

    He always failed on the same question.

  4. Future

    Si tu ne révises pas, tu échoueras, c'est simple.

    If you don't revise, you'll fail, it's that simple.

  5. Conditional

    Sans son aide, le projet échouerait en un mois.

    Without his help, the project would fail within a month.

  6. Present subjunctive

    J'ai peur qu'on échoue si on se dépêche trop.

    I'm afraid we'll fail if we rush too much.

  7. Imperative

    Échoue, recommence, mais n'abandonne jamais.

    Fail, start again, but never give up.

Good to know

  • Échouer à un examen is to fail an exam; rater is the everyday word for it.

Verbs like this one

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