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FRENCH VERB

passer

to come by, to drop in

  • #19 most used
  • Regular -er verb
  • Past participle: passé
  • Present participle: passant

Conjugation

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

Present

Présent · now, habits and facts

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

Past

Passé composé · finished actions

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

Imperfect

Imparfait · “used to” and “was …ing”

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

Future

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

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

Conditional

Conditionnel · “would”, polite requests

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

Present subjunctive

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

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

Imperative

Impératif · requests and orders

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

How to use passer

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

  1. Present

    Je passe te prendre à huit heures ?

    Shall I come by and pick you up at eight?

  2. Past

    Je suis passée à la boulangerie en rentrant.

    I stopped by the bakery on the way home.

  3. Imperfect

    Avant, il passait nous voir tous les dimanches.

    He used to come and see us every Sunday.

  4. Future

    Je passerai chez toi après le travail.

    I'll come by your place after work.

  5. Conditional

    Tu passerais me chercher à la gare ?

    Could you come and get me at the station?

  6. Present subjunctive

    Il faut que je passe à la pharmacie ce soir.

    I have to stop by the pharmacy tonight.

  7. Imperative

    Passe quand tu veux, la porte est ouverte.

    Come by whenever you like, the door's open.

Good to know

  • With être, passer is to come by or go past: je suis passé chez toi.
  • With something after it (passer un examen, passer une semaine), it takes avoir.

Where you hear passer

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

French · Beginner Level 2

  • Je passe chez toi ce soir. I'm coming by your place tonight.
  • Je suis passée à l'école vendredi. I came by the school on Friday.
  • Vous allez passer à l'école demain ? Are you going to come by the school tomorrow?

French · Beginner Level 3

  • Le bus passe devant l'église. The bus goes past the church.
  • On est passées devant la boulangerie. We went past the bakery.
  • On va passer devant la maison de ma grand-mère. We're going to go past my grandmother's house.
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Good News

Beginner Level 2 · passer

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Lost in Brittany

Beginner Level 3 · passez devant

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Verbs like this one

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