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fluentbyear

FRENCH VERB

enlever

to take off, to remove

  • #244 most used
  • Regular -er verb
  • Past participle: enlevé
  • Present participle: enlevant

Conjugation

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

Present

Présent · now, habits and facts

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

Past

Passé composé · finished actions

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

Imperfect

Imparfait · “used to” and “was …ing”

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

Future

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

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

Conditional

Conditionnel · “would”, polite requests

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

Present subjunctive

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

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

Imperative

Impératif · requests and orders

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

How to use enlever

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

  1. Present

    En France, on enlève rarement ses chaussures chez les gens.

    In France, people rarely take their shoes off at other people's homes.

  2. Past

    Tu as enlevé la tache sur ma chemise ?

    Did you get the stain off my shirt?

  3. Imperfect

    Ma mère enlevait toujours la croûte du pain.

    My mother always took the crust off the bread.

  4. Future

    J'enlèverai les décorations de Noël ce week-end.

    I'll take down the Christmas decorations this weekend.

  5. Conditional

    J'enlèverais le dernier paragraphe, il est trop long.

    I'd remove the last paragraph, it's too long.

  6. Present subjunctive

    Il faut que tu enlèves ton manteau, il fait chaud.

    You need to take off your coat, it's hot.

  7. Imperative

    Enlevez vos chaussures, le sol est propre.

    Take your shoes off, the floor is clean.

Good to know

  • Enlever ses chaussures, une tache, un mot; the opposite is mettre.

Verbs like this one

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