# Comprendre Conjugation — Every Tense of the French Verb “To Understand”

> **Comprendre** means “to understand”. Présent: **je comprends, tu comprends, il comprend, nous comprenons, vous comprenez, ils comprennent**. It is **prendre** with a prefix and follows it exactly — the *d* survives in the singular and disappears in the plural.

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Updated: 2026-09-16

## Présent — prendre’s pattern exactly

The d holds in the singular and drops in the plural, with the n doubling for ils. If you already know prendre, there is nothing new here at all — the prefix does not change a thing.

| French | English |
|---|---|
| je comprends | I understand |
| tu comprends | you understand |
| il / elle comprend | he / she understands |
| nous comprenons | we understand |
| vous comprenez | you understand |
| ils / elles comprennent | they understand |

**The whole family** — Every compound of prendre behaves the same way: apprendre (to learn), reprendre (to take back, to resume), surprendre (to surprise), entreprendre (to undertake). Six verbs, one table.

## When you have not understood

Worth having ready before you need them. Note that the bare je ne comprends pas is correct but closes the conversation — the useful phrases ask for something specific instead.

| French | Means | When |
|---|---|---|
| je ne comprends pas | I don’t understand | the blunt one |
| je n’ai pas compris | I didn’t catch that | about one specific thing just said |
| vous pouvez répéter, s’il vous plaît ? | could you say that again? | the most useful of the four |
| plus lentement, s’il vous plaît | more slowly, please | when speed is the problem |
| qu’est-ce que ça veut dire ? | what does that mean? | about one word |

**⚠ The passé composé is the one you usually want** — Je ne comprends pas describes a general state — “I don’t understand French”. Je n’ai pas compris is about the sentence that just went past. Using the présent when you mean the passé composé makes it sound as though nothing is getting through at all, and people will switch to English.

## Passé composé — compris

Participle compris, with avoir. On its own, compris ? is a curt “got it?” and compris ! a curt “got it”. Both are common and both are informal.

| French | English |
|---|---|
| j’ai compris | I understood / have understood |
| tu as compris | you understood / have understood |
| il / elle a compris | he / she understood / have understood |
| nous avons compris | we understood / have understood |
| vous avez compris | you understood / have understood |
| ils / elles ont compris | they understood / have understood |

## Imparfait — the understanding that lasted

From the nous stem, so no d anywhere: je comprenais. This is the tense for how things were — je ne comprenais rien au début, “I understood nothing at first”.

| French | English |
|---|---|
| je comprenais | I understood / used to understand |
| tu comprenais | you understood / used to understand |
| il / elle comprenait | he / she understood / used to understand |
| nous comprenions | we understood / used to understand |
| vous compreniez | you understood / used to understand |
| ils / elles comprenaient | they understood / used to understand |

## Futur and conditionnel — the d returns

Built off the infinitive, so the stem is comprendr- and the d is back. Regular from here on.

| French | English |
|---|---|
| je comprendrai | I will understand |
| tu comprendras | you will understand |
| il / elle comprendra | he / she will understand |
| nous comprendrons | we will understand |
| vous comprendrez | you will understand |
| ils / elles comprendront | they will understand |

## Conditionnel — would understand

Je comprendrais. Often used to grant somebody permission to be annoyed: je comprendrais que tu sois fâché, “I’d understand if you were angry”.

| French | English |
|---|---|
| je comprendrais | I would understand |
| tu comprendrais | you would understand |
| il / elle comprendrait | he / she would understand |
| nous comprendrions | we would understand |
| vous comprendriez | you would understand |
| ils / elles comprendraient | they would understand |

## Subjonctif — comprenne

The same boot shape as the présent. Il faut que tu comprennes — “you need to understand”.

| French | English |
|---|---|
| je comprenne | (that) I understand |
| tu comprennes | (that) you understand |
| il / elle comprenne | (that) he / she understand |
| nous comprenions | (that) we understand |
| vous compreniez | (that) you understand |
| ils / elles comprennent | (that) they understand |

## Impératif — rarely an order

Comprends ! exists but is unusual — telling somebody to understand is as odd in French as in English. Comprenez bien que…, “be clear that…”, is the form you are likeliest to meet.

| French | English |
|---|---|
| comprends ! | understand! (to one person you know) |
| comprenons ! | let’s understand! |
| comprenez ! | understand! (formal, or to a group) |

## Plus-que-parfait — had understood

J’avais compris — very often with mal in front of the participle: j’avais mal compris, “I’d misunderstood”.

| French | English |
|---|---|
| j’avais compris | I had understood |
| tu avais compris | you had understood |
| il / elle avait compris | he / she had understood |
| nous avions compris | we had understood |
| vous aviez compris | you had understood |
| ils / elles avaient compris | they had understood |

## FAQ

### How do you conjugate comprendre in the present tense?

Je comprends, tu comprends, il / elle comprend, nous comprenons, vous comprenez, ils / elles comprennent.

### How do you say “I don’t understand” in French?

Je ne comprends pas, or just je comprends pas in speech. If you mean one particular thing that was just said, je n’ai pas compris is the better choice.

### What is the past participle of comprendre?

Compris, with avoir. J’ai compris — “I’ve got it”.

### Is comprendre conjugated like prendre?

Identically. It is prendre with a prefix, and so are apprendre, reprendre and surprendre.

### How do you ask someone to repeat in French?

Vous pouvez répéter, s’il vous plaît ? — or more politely still, pourriez-vous répéter, s’il vous plaît ? Adding plus lentement asks for it slower.

## Related guides

- Prendre conjugation: https://cocoonfrench.com/guides/prendre-conjugation
- Savoir conjugation: https://cocoonfrench.com/guides/savoir-conjugation
- French verb conjugation: https://cocoonfrench.com/guides/french-verb-conjugation
- All free French guides: https://cocoonfrench.com/guides