French guides · Verb tables + audio
Regarder: the “at” that French does not say.
Regarder means “to look at” or “to watch”, and the conjugation is as plain as French gets. The page is here for one thing: English needs a preposition after “look”, and French does not. Regarder already contains the “at”, so anything you add is one word too many. It is also half of the pair with voir that decides whether you chose to look or merely saw.
Présent — a model -er verb
Stem regard-, standard endings, nothing else. In speech the first e is usually swallowed: je regarde comes out close to “zhuh-GARD”.
| French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|
| je regarde | I watch | |
| tu regardes | you watch | |
| il / elle regarde | he / she watches | |
| nous regardons | we watch | |
| vous regardez | you watch | |
| ils / elles regardent | they watch |
No preposition — and the verbs that share the habit
A short list of French verbs that take a direct object where English insists on a preposition. They are worth learning together, because the mistake is identical in each.
| French | English needs a word | Means |
|---|---|---|
| je regarde la mer | look at | I’m looking at the sea |
| j’écoute la radio | listen to | I’m listening to the radio |
| j’attends le bus | wait for | I’m waiting for the bus |
| je cherche mes clés | look for | I’m looking for my keys |
| je paie le café | pay for | I’m paying for the coffee |
French then puts prepositions where English does not: téléphoner à quelqu’un (phone somebody), répondre à une question (answer a question), obéir à (obey). Neither language is being difficult on purpose; the two lists simply do not line up, and both have to be learnt.
Regarder or voir?
Regarder is deliberate; voir just happens. The difference matters most with films and television, where English uses “watch” and “see” almost interchangeably and French does not.
- Je regarde un film — I’m watching a film, right now, on purpose.
- J’ai vu ce film — I’ve seen that film, it is in my memory.
- Je vois la mer — the sea is in view; I did not choose it.
- Regarde ! — look! An instruction to direct your eyes.
Television is always regarder: je regarde la télé. Saying je vois la télé means you can physically see the set in the room.
Passé composé — regardé
Regular: regardé, with avoir. It agrees if a direct object comes before it: la série que j’ai regardée.
| French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|
| j’ai regardé | I watched / have watched | |
| tu as regardé | you watched / have watched | |
| il / elle a regardé | he / she watched / have watched | |
| nous avons regardé | we watched / have watched | |
| vous avez regardé | you watched / have watched | |
| ils / elles ont regardé | they watched / have watched |
Imparfait — was watching
Je regardais la télé quand tu es arrivé — the classic imparfait-plus-passé-composé pair: a background activity interrupted by an event.
| French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|
| je regardais | I used to watch / was watching | |
| tu regardais | you used to watch / was watching | |
| il / elle regardait | he / she used to watch / was watching | |
| nous regardions | we used to watch / was watching | |
| vous regardiez | you used to watch / was watching | |
| ils / elles regardaient | they used to watch / was watching |
Futur and conditionnel
Full infinitive as stem: je regarderai.
| French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|
| je regarderai | I will watch | |
| tu regarderas | you will watch | |
| il / elle regardera | he / she will watch | |
| nous regarderons | we will watch | |
| vous regarderez | you will watch | |
| ils / elles regarderont | they will watch |
Conditionnel — would watch
Je regarderais bien un film — “I could go for a film”.
| French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|
| je regarderais | I would watch | |
| tu regarderais | you would watch | |
| il / elle regarderait | he / she would watch | |
| nous regarderions | we would watch | |
| vous regarderiez | you would watch | |
| ils / elles regarderaient | they would watch |
Subjonctif — regular
Identical to the présent in four forms.
| French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|
| je regarde | (that) I watch | |
| tu regardes | (that) you watch | |
| il / elle regarde | (that) he / she watch | |
| nous regardions | (that) we watch | |
| vous regardiez | (that) you watch | |
| ils / elles regardent | (that) they watch |
Impératif — look
Regarde ! with no s — one of the most-heard imperatives in French, and the reflexive regarde-toi is “look at yourself”.
| French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|
| regarde ! | watch! (to one person you know) | |
| regardons ! | let’s watch! | |
| regardez ! | watch! (formal, or to a group) |
Plus-que-parfait — had watched
J’avais regardé.
| French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|
| j’avais regardé | I had watched | |
| tu avais regardé | you had watched | |
| il / elle avait regardé | he / she had watched | |
| nous avions regardé | we had watched | |
| vous aviez regardé | you had watched | |
| ils / elles avaient regardé | they had watched |
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Quick answers
Regarder, answered.
The questions that come up while you are learning the table.