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FRENCH VERB

rouler

to drive, to roll

  • #167 most used
  • Regular -er verb
  • Past participle: roulé
  • Present participle: roulant

Conjugation

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

Present

Présent · now, habits and facts

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

Past

Passé composé · finished actions

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

Imperfect

Imparfait · “used to” and “was …ing”

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

Future

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

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

Conditional

Conditionnel · “would”, polite requests

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

Present subjunctive

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

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

Imperative

Impératif · requests and orders

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

How to use rouler

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

  1. Present

    On roule depuis trois heures, on fait une pause ?

    We've been driving for three hours, shall we take a break?

  2. Past

    On a roulé sous la pluie jusqu'à Nantes.

    We drove in the rain all the way to Nantes.

  3. Imperfect

    Il roulait trop vite, la police l'a arrêté.

    He was driving too fast, the police stopped him.

  4. Future

    On roulera de nuit pour éviter les bouchons.

    We'll drive at night to avoid the traffic jams.

  5. Conditional

    Tu roulerais moins vite avec les enfants derrière ?

    Would you drive slower with the kids in the back?

  6. Present subjunctive

    Il faut qu'on roule encore une heure avant de dormir.

    We need to drive another hour before sleeping.

  7. Imperative

    Roulez doucement, les enfants sortent de l'école.

    Drive slowly, the children are coming out of school.

Good to know

  • Rouler is the car moving : on a roulé toute la nuit; rouler à vélo is to ride a bike.

Where you hear rouler

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

French · Beginner Level 3

  • Je roule doucement, ne t'inquiète pas. I'm driving slowly, don't worry.
  • On a roulé pendant une heure. We drove for an hour.
  • Demain, on va rouler jusqu'à Rennes. Tomorrow, we're going to drive to Rennes.
19
Mont-Saint-Michel

Beginner Level 3 · roule

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Verbs like this one

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