Skip to content
fluentbyear

FRENCH VERB

se mettre

to start, to put oneself

  • #269 most used
  • Irregular -re verb
  • Past participle: mis
  • Present participle: se mettant

Conjugation

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

Present

Présent · now, habits and facts

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

Past

Passé composé · finished actions

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

Imperfect

Imparfait · “used to” and “was …ing”

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

Future

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

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

Conditional

Conditionnel · “would”, polite requests

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

Present subjunctive

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

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

Imperative

Impératif · requests and orders

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

How to use se mettre

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

  1. Present

    Il se met à pleurer dès qu'on dit non.

    He starts crying as soon as we say no.

  2. Past

    Je me suis mise au yoga cet hiver.

    I took up yoga this winter.

  3. Imperfect

    On se mettait toujours au fond de la classe.

    We always sat at the back of the class.

  4. Future

    On se mettra à table quand papa arrivera.

    We'll sit down to eat when dad gets here.

  5. Conditional

    Je me mettrais bien au piano, à mon âge.

    I'd quite like to take up the piano, at my age.

  6. Present subjunctive

    Il faut que tu te mettes au travail maintenant.

    You need to get down to work now.

  7. Imperative

    Mets-toi près de la fenêtre, il y a de la lumière.

    Sit by the window, there's light there.

Good to know

  • Se mettre à + infinitive is to start doing : il s'est mis à pleuvoir. Se mettre à table is to sit down to eat.
  • Je ne sais pas où me mettre means I don't know where to put myself.

Verbs like this one

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