# Ouvrir Conjugation — Every Tense of the French Verb “To Open”

> **Ouvrir** means “to open”. Présent: **j’ouvre, tu ouvres, il ouvre, nous ouvrons, vous ouvrez, ils ouvrent**. Despite the *-ir* ending it takes the endings of an *-er* verb in the present — and its past participle is the irregular **ouvert**.

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Updated: 2026-09-16

## Présent — -er endings on an -ir verb

The stem is ouvr- throughout — no changes, no boot — and the endings are the -er set. If you can conjugate parler, you can already conjugate this.

| French | English |
|---|---|
| j’ouvre | I open |
| tu ouvres | you open |
| il / elle ouvre | he / she opens |
| nous ouvrons | we open |
| vous ouvrez | you open |
| ils / elles ouvrent | they open |

**The five verbs that do this** — Ouvrir, couvrir (to cover), découvrir (to discover), offrir (to offer, to give as a gift) and souffrir (to suffer). All -ir verbs, all taking -er endings in the présent, and all with a participle in -ert.

**⚠ Don’t say j’ouvris** — The finir pattern would give j’ouvris — and that form does exist, but it is the passé simple, a literary past tense. In speech it is j’ouvre.

## Opening, offering and one false friend

The family is worth meeting together, because one of them means something learners consistently guess wrong.

| French | Means |  |
|---|---|---|
| j’ouvre la porte | I open the door |  |
| ça ouvre à neuf heures | it opens at nine | shops, museums |
| je t’offre un café | the coffee’s on me | not “I offer you” — it means to treat |
| offrir un cadeau | to give a present | donner is neutral; offrir is a gift |
| j’ai découvert que… | I found out that… |  |

**Offrir is not “to offer”** — It normally means to give as a present, or to pay for something for somebody. Je t’offre un verre is “I’ll get you a drink”, not a proposal. For the English sense of offering — putting a suggestion on the table — French uses proposer.

## Passé composé — ouvert

Here is the irregularity. With avoir, the participle is ouvert — not ouvri, which is what the rest of the verb would lead you to expect. The whole family matches: couvert, découvert, offert, souffert.

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

**It doubles as an adjective** — Ouvert is also the word on the shop door, and it agrees like any adjective: la porte est ouverte, les magasins sont ouverts. The opposite is fermé.

## Imparfait — regular

From ouvrons: j’ouvrais. Nothing unusual.

| French | English |
|---|---|
| j’ouvrais | I used to open / was opening |
| tu ouvrais | you used to open / was opening |
| il / elle ouvrait | he / she used to open / was opening |
| nous ouvrions | we used to open / was opening |
| vous ouvriez | you used to open / was opening |
| ils / elles ouvraient | they used to open / was opening |

## Futur and conditionnel — the full infinitive

Unlike -re verbs, nothing is dropped: the stem is the whole infinitive, ouvrir-, giving j’ouvrirai. Two rs and an i between them — worth writing out once.

| French | English |
|---|---|
| j’ouvrirai | I will open |
| tu ouvriras | you will open |
| il / elle ouvrira | he / she will open |
| nous ouvrirons | we will open |
| vous ouvrirez | you will open |
| ils / elles ouvriront | they will open |

## Conditionnel — would open

J’ouvrirais. The polite request built on it is one you will use: pourriez-vous ouvrir la fenêtre ?

| French | English |
|---|---|
| j’ouvrirais | I would open |
| tu ouvrirais | you would open |
| il / elle ouvrirait | he / she would open |
| nous ouvririons | we would open |
| vous ouvririez | you would open |
| ils / elles ouvriraient | they would open |

## Subjonctif — identical to the présent

Because the présent already takes -e endings, four of the six subjunctive forms are spelled exactly like the présent. Only nous and vous differ.

| French | English |
|---|---|
| j’ouvre | (that) I open |
| tu ouvres | (that) you open |
| il / elle ouvre | (that) he / she open |
| nous ouvrions | (that) we open |
| vous ouvriez | (that) you open |
| ils / elles ouvrent | (that) they open |

## Impératif — no s

Because it behaves like an -er verb, the tu imperative drops its s: ouvre !, not ouvres. Compare pars ! and mets !, which keep theirs.

| French | English |
|---|---|
| ouvre ! | open! (to one person you know) |
| ouvrons ! | let’s open! |
| ouvrez ! | open! (formal, or to a group) |

## Plus-que-parfait — had opened

J’avais ouvert.

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

## FAQ

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

J’ouvre, tu ouvres, il / elle ouvre, nous ouvrons, vous ouvrez, ils / elles ouvrent. It takes -er endings despite the -ir infinitive.

### Why does ouvrir use -er endings?

It is a small closed group left over from Latin: ouvrir, couvrir, découvrir, offrir and souffrir. There is no rule to derive it from — the five are simply learnt together.

### What is the past participle of ouvrir?

Ouvert, with avoir. The family follows: couvert, offert, souffert.

### What is the imperative of ouvrir?

Ouvre (to one person), ouvrons, ouvrez. The tu form has no s, because the verb takes -er endings.

### Does offrir really mean “to offer”?

Usually not. Offrir means to give as a present or to pay for something for someone — je t’offre un café is “the coffee’s on me”. For the English sense of proposing something, use proposer.

## Related guides

- Faire conjugation: https://cocoonfrench.com/guides/faire-conjugation
- Mettre conjugation: https://cocoonfrench.com/guides/mettre-conjugation
- French verb conjugation: https://cocoonfrench.com/guides/french-verb-conjugation
- All free French guides: https://cocoonfrench.com/guides