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FRENCH VERB

se passer

to happen

  • #70 most used
  • Regular -er verb
  • Past participle: passé
  • Present participle: se passant

Conjugation

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

Present

Présent · now, habits and facts

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

Past

Passé composé · finished actions

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

Imperfect

Imparfait · “used to” and “was …ing”

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

Future

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

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

Conditional

Conditionnel · “would”, polite requests

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

Present subjunctive

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

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

Imperative

Impératif · requests and orders

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

How to use se passer

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

  1. Present

    Qu'est-ce qui se passe ici ? Pourquoi tout ce bruit ?

    What's going on here? Why all this noise?

  2. Past

    L'entretien s'est très bien passé, je crois.

    The interview went very well, I think.

  3. Imperfect

    Il se passait toujours quelque chose dans ce quartier.

    There was always something happening in that neighbourhood.

  4. Future

    Tout se passera bien, tu as bien révisé.

    Everything will go fine, you've revised well.

  5. Conditional

    Comment ça se passerait si on arrivait en retard ?

    What would happen if we arrived late?

  6. Present subjunctive

    J'ai peur qu'il se passe quelque chose pendant mon absence.

    I'm afraid something will happen while I'm away.

  7. Imperative

    Passe-toi de dessert ce soir, il est tard.

    Skip dessert tonight, it's late.

Good to know

  • Qu'est-ce qui se passe ? is what's going on ? Ça s'est bien passé ? asks how something went.
  • Se passer de is to do without : je me passe de sucre.

Verbs like this one

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