# Essayer Conjugation — Every Tense of the French Verb “To Try”

> **Essayer** means “to try”. Présent: **j’essaie, tu essaies, il essaie, nous essayons, vous essayez, ils essaient** — and **j’essaye** is equally correct. *-ayer* verbs are the one group where French lets you choose. To try *to do* something is **essayer de**.

Canonical page: https://cocoonfrench.com/guides/essayer-conjugation
Published by Cocoon French (https://cocoonfrench.com/) — French for total beginners through
slow, visual stories. The Club adds full lessons and a scored speaking drill, free for 7 days:
https://club.cocoonfrench.com/login
Updated: 2026-09-16

## Présent — with the i, or with the y

The table below uses the i spelling, which is the more common of the two in modern writing. Swap in a y anywhere and the form is still correct: j’essaye, tu essayes, il essaye, ils essayent.

| French | English |
|---|---|
| j’essaie | I try |
| tu essaies | you try |
| il / elle essaie | he / she tries |
| nous essayons | we try |
| vous essayez | you try |
| ils / elles essaient | they try |

**Only -ayer verbs get the choice** — Payer and balayer (to sweep) behave the same way. Verbs in -oyer and -uyer — nettoyer, envoyer, ennuyer — have no choice at all: they must swap.

**Pick one and stay with it** — The two spellings are equally valid but mixing them in the same piece of writing looks careless. The i forms are more common in print and in exam papers; the y forms survive comfortably in speech-adjacent writing. Both sound essentially the same.

## Essayer de — the preposition is not optional

To try to do something, French inserts de before the infinitive. English has nothing there, which is exactly why it gets dropped.

| French | Means |  |
|---|---|---|
| j’essaie de comprendre | I’m trying to understand | de before the infinitive |
| j’essaie cette veste | I’m trying this jacket on | no preposition before a thing |
| essaie encore | try again |  |
| ça ne coûte rien d’essayer | it costs nothing to try |  |

**⚠ j’essaie comprendre is wrong** — The de is compulsory before an infinitive. It disappears only when what follows is a noun — trying on a garment, tasting a dish — where the verb takes a direct object instead.

For clothes specifically, the reflexive s’essayer is not what you want; the shop phrase is je peux l’essayer ?, “can I try it on?”, and the fitting room is la cabine d’essayage.

## Passé composé — essayé

Regular, always with the y: essayé, with avoir. The choice does not reach the participle.

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

## Imparfait — y throughout

Built from essayons, so the y stands in every form: j’essayais. And nous essayions keeps both letters, like nous voyions.

| French | English |
|---|---|
| j’essayais | I used to try / was trying |
| tu essayais | you used to try / was trying |
| il / elle essayait | he / she used to try / was trying |
| nous essayions | we used to try / was trying |
| vous essayiez | you used to try / was trying |
| ils / elles essayaient | they used to try / was trying |

## Futur and conditionnel — the choice returns

Both j’essaierai and j’essayerai are correct, and unlike envoyer there is nothing irregular hiding here.

| French | English |
|---|---|
| j’essaierai | I will try |
| tu essaieras | you will try |
| il / elle essaiera | he / she will try |
| nous essaierons | we will try |
| vous essaierez | you will try |
| ils / elles essaieront | they will try |

## Conditionnel — would try

J’essaierais — or j’essayerais. Common in soft advice: à ta place, j’essaierais.

| French | English |
|---|---|
| j’essaierais | I would try |
| tu essaierais | you would try |
| il / elle essaierait | he / she would try |
| nous essaierions | we would try |
| vous essaieriez | you would try |
| ils / elles essaieraient | they would try |

## Subjonctif — the boot

Same shape as the présent, same optional swap.

| French | English |
|---|---|
| j’essaie | (that) I try |
| tu essaies | (that) you try |
| il / elle essaie | (that) he / she try |
| nous essayions | (that) we try |
| vous essayiez | (that) you try |
| ils / elles essaient | (that) they try |

## Impératif — give it a go

Essaie ! or essaye !, with no s either way. Essayons — “let’s try”.

| French | English |
|---|---|
| essaie ! | try! (to one person you know) |
| essayons ! | let’s try! |
| essayez ! | try! (formal, or to a group) |

## Plus-que-parfait — had tried

J’avais essayé.

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

## FAQ

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

J’essaie, tu essaies, il / elle essaie, nous essayons, vous essayez, ils / elles essaient — or with y throughout: j’essaye, tu essayes… Both are correct.

### Is it j’essaie or j’essaye?

Both. -ayer verbs may keep the y or change it to i, and neither is a mistake. The i forms are more common in print.

### Do all -yer verbs have this choice?

No — only -ayer verbs. -oyer and -uyer verbs such as nettoyer and ennuyer must change the y to i.

### How do you say “I’m trying to understand”?

J’essaie de comprendre. The de is compulsory before an infinitive, even though English has no word there.

### How do you ask to try clothes on in French?

Je peux l’essayer ? — no preposition, because the garment is a direct object. The fitting room is la cabine d’essayage.

## Related guides

- Payer conjugation: https://cocoonfrench.com/guides/payer-conjugation
- Envoyer conjugation: https://cocoonfrench.com/guides/envoyer-conjugation
- French verb conjugation: https://cocoonfrench.com/guides/french-verb-conjugation
- All free French guides: https://cocoonfrench.com/guides