Skip to content
fluentbyear

FRENCH VERB

promettre

to promise

  • #151 most used
  • Irregular -re verb
  • Past participle: promis
  • Present participle: promettant

Conjugation

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

Present

Présent · now, habits and facts

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

Past

Passé composé · finished actions

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

Imperfect

Imparfait · “used to” and “was …ing”

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

Future

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

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

Conditional

Conditionnel · “would”, polite requests

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

Present subjunctive

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

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

Imperative

Impératif · requests and orders

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

How to use promettre

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

  1. Present

    Je te promets que je serai là.

    I promise you I'll be there.

  2. Past

    Il a promis de rappeler ce soir.

    He promised to call back tonight.

  3. Imperfect

    Elle promettait toujours, mais ne venait jamais.

    She always promised, but never came.

  4. Future

    Je ne promettrai rien avant d'avoir vu le dossier.

    I won't promise anything before seeing the file.

  5. Conditional

    Je promettrais bien, mais je ne suis pas sûre.

    I'd promise, but I'm not sure.

  6. Present subjunctive

    Je veux que tu me promettes d'être prudent.

    I want you to promise me to be careful.

  7. Imperative

    Promets-moi de m'écrire en arrivant.

    Promise me you'll write when you arrive.

Good to know

  • C'est promis is it's a promise. You promise something to someone : promettre à quelqu'un.

Where you hear promettre

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

French · Beginner Level 1

  • Je promets de revenir. I promise to come back.
  • J'ai promis à Hugo de revenir. I promised Hugo I'd come back.
  • Je vais te promettre une chose. Je reviens ! I'm going to promise you one thing. I'm coming back!
29
The Last Evening

Beginner Level 1 · Promis ? · je promets

Needs a subscription

Verbs like this one

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