Skip to content
fluentbyear

FRENCH VERB

se couper

to cut oneself

  • #446 most used
  • Regular -er verb
  • Past participle: coupé
  • Present participle: se coupant

Conjugation

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

Present

Présent · now, habits and facts

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

Past

Passé composé · finished actions

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

Imperfect

Imparfait · “used to” and “was …ing”

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

Future

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

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

Conditional

Conditionnel · “would”, polite requests

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

Present subjunctive

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

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

Imperative

Impératif · requests and orders

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

How to use se couper

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

  1. Present

    Je me coupe à chaque fois avec ce couteau.

    I cut myself every time with that knife.

  2. Past

    Elle s'est coupé les cheveux toute seule.

    She cut her own hair.

  3. Imperfect

    Mon grand-père se coupait souvent en se rasant.

    My grandfather often cut himself shaving.

  4. Future

    Tu te couperas si tu tiens le pain comme ça.

    You'll cut yourself if you hold the bread like that.

  5. Conditional

    Je me couperais bien les cheveux avant l'été.

    I'd like to cut my hair before summer.

  6. Present subjunctive

    Il ne faut pas que tu te coupes, le couteau est neuf.

    You mustn't cut yourself, the knife is new.

  7. Imperative

    Coupe-toi une tranche de gâteau, il en reste.

    Cut yourself a slice of cake, there's some left.

Good to know

  • Se couper le doigt, se couper les cheveux : the body part comes after. Couper without se is to cut something.
  • Ça coupe ! on the phone means the line is breaking up.

Verbs like this one

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