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FRENCH VERB

perdre

to lose

  • #50 most used
  • Regular -re verb
  • Past participle: perdu
  • Present participle: perdant

Conjugation

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

Present

Présent · now, habits and facts

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

Past

Passé composé · finished actions

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

Imperfect

Imparfait · “used to” and “was …ing”

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

Future

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

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

Conditional

Conditionnel · “would”, polite requests

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

Present subjunctive

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

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

Imperative

Impératif · requests and orders

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

How to use perdre

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

  1. Present

    Je perds toujours mes lunettes.

    I'm always losing my glasses.

  2. Past

    J'ai perdu mon téléphone dans le taxi.

    I lost my phone in the taxi.

  3. Imperfect

    On perdait toujours contre eux au foot.

    We always lost to them at football.

  4. Future

    Tu perdras moins de temps en vélo.

    You'll waste less time by bike.

  5. Conditional

    Sans GPS, je perdrais mon chemin tout de suite.

    Without GPS I'd lose my way straight away.

  6. Present subjunctive

    J'ai peur qu'on perde le match samedi.

    I'm afraid we'll lose the match on Saturday.

  7. Imperative

    Ne perdez pas votre ticket, il faut le montrer.

    Don't lose your ticket, you have to show it.

Good to know

  • Perdre son temps is to waste one's time; se perdre is to get lost.

Where you hear perdre

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

French · Beginner Level 1

  • Je perds souvent mes clés. I often lose my keys.
  • J'ai perdu mon téléphone. I lost my phone.
  • Je vais perdre mes clés si je les laisse ici. I'm going to lose my keys if I leave them here.
8
I'm Lost

Beginner Level 1 · perdue

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Verbs like this one

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