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FRENCH VERB

emprunter

to borrow

  • #175 most used
  • Regular -er verb
  • Past participle: emprunté
  • Present participle: empruntant

Conjugation

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

Present

Présent · now, habits and facts

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

Past

Passé composé · finished actions

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

Imperfect

Imparfait · “used to” and “was …ing”

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

Future

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

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

Conditional

Conditionnel · “would”, polite requests

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

Present subjunctive

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

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

Imperative

Impératif · requests and orders

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

How to use emprunter

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

  1. Present

    J'emprunte des livres à la bibliothèque chaque semaine.

    I borrow books from the library every week.

  2. Past

    Il a emprunté ma voiture et l'a rendue vide.

    He borrowed my car and brought it back on empty.

  3. Imperfect

    Elle m'empruntait toujours mon chargeur en cours.

    She always borrowed my charger in class.

  4. Future

    J'emprunterai un vélo à mon frère pour la balade.

    I'll borrow a bike from my brother for the ride.

  5. Conditional

    Je t'emprunterais bien ta tente pour le week-end.

    I'd like to borrow your tent for the weekend.

  6. Present subjunctive

    Il faut qu'on emprunte une échelle au voisin.

    We need to borrow a ladder from the neighbour.

  7. Imperative

    Emprunte le parapluie de l'entrée, il pleut fort.

    Borrow the umbrella in the hall, it's raining hard.

Good to know

  • Emprunter quelque chose à quelqu'un is to borrow from them; prêter is to lend.
  • Emprunter une route is to take a road, in formal French.

Verbs like this one

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