# Répondre Conjugation — Every Tense of the French Verb “To Answer”

> **Répondre** means “to answer”. Présent: **je réponds, tu réponds, il répond, nous répondons, vous répondez, ils répondent** — a regular *-re* verb. It takes **à**: you answer *to* a question in French, which makes the pronoun **lui** or **y**, never *le*.

Canonical page: https://cocoonfrench.com/guides/repondre-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 — the regular -re pattern

Stem répond-, endings -s, -s, —, -ons, -ez, -ent. The accent on the é never moves.

| French | English |
|---|---|
| je réponds | I answer |
| tu réponds | you answer |
| il / elle répond | he / she answers |
| nous répondons | we answer |
| vous répondez | you answer |
| ils / elles répondent | they answer |

## The à, and what it does to the pronoun

Because what you answer follows à, it is an indirect object — and French has a separate set of pronouns for those.

| French | Means |  |
|---|---|---|
| je réponds à la question | I answer the question | à is compulsory |
| j’y réponds | I’ll answer it | a thing → y |
| je lui réponds | I answer him / her | a person → lui |
| je leur réponds | I answer them |  |
| répondre au téléphone | to answer the phone | à + le → au |

**⚠ Never je le réponds** — Le and la replace direct objects, and répondre has none. Use y for a thing and lui or leur for a person. The one thing you can put directly after the verb is what you actually said: il a répondu oui.

**The mirror-image group** — French verbs that take à where English takes nothing: répondre à, téléphoner à, obéir à, ressembler à, plaire à. Exactly the reverse of the attendre / écouter group.

## Passé composé — répondu

Regular -u participle with avoir: j’ai répondu.

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

**It never agrees** — Because répondre takes no direct object, the participle has nothing to agree with — it stays répondu whatever comes before it. Les questions auxquelles j’ai répondu, not “répondues”.

## Imparfait — used to answer

Je répondais, from the nous stem.

| French | English |
|---|---|
| je répondais | I used to answer / was answering |
| tu répondais | you used to answer / was answering |
| il / elle répondait | he / she used to answer / was answering |
| nous répondions | we used to answer / was answering |
| vous répondiez | you used to answer / was answering |
| ils / elles répondaient | they used to answer / was answering |

## Futur and conditionnel

Drop the final e: je répondrai.

| French | English |
|---|---|
| je répondrai | I will answer |
| tu répondras | you will answer |
| il / elle répondra | he / she will answer |
| nous répondrons | we will answer |
| vous répondrez | you will answer |
| ils / elles répondront | they will answer |

## Conditionnel — would answer

Je répondrais. Useful for hedging: je répondrais que ça dépend.

| French | English |
|---|---|
| je répondrais | I would answer |
| tu répondrais | you would answer |
| il / elle répondrait | he / she would answer |
| nous répondrions | we would answer |
| vous répondriez | you would answer |
| ils / elles répondraient | they would answer |

## Subjonctif — regular

From the plural stem, unchanged.

| French | English |
|---|---|
| je réponde | (that) I answer |
| tu répondes | (that) you answer |
| il / elle réponde | (that) he / she answer |
| nous répondions | (that) we answer |
| vous répondiez | (that) you answer |
| ils / elles répondent | (that) they answer |

## Impératif — answer me

Réponds ! keeping its s. With a pronoun: réponds-moi — and note it is moi, the stressed form, after a positive imperative.

| French | English |
|---|---|
| réponds ! | answer! (to one person you know) |
| répondons ! | let’s answer! |
| répondez ! | answer! (formal, or to a group) |

## Plus-que-parfait — had answered

J’avais répondu.

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

## FAQ

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

Je réponds, tu réponds, il / elle répond, nous répondons, vous répondez, ils / elles répondent.

### Does répondre take à?

Yes, always: répondre à une question, répondre au téléphone. English answers something directly; French answers to it.

### Is it je le réponds or je lui réponds?

Je lui réponds for a person, j’y réponds for a thing. Le is for direct objects, and répondre has none.

### What is the past participle of répondre?

Répondu, with avoir. It never agrees, because there is no direct object.

### How do you say “answer the phone” in French?

Répondre au téléphone — à + le contracting to au.

## Related guides

- Attendre conjugation: https://cocoonfrench.com/guides/attendre-conjugation
- Dire conjugation: https://cocoonfrench.com/guides/dire-conjugation
- Vendre conjugation: https://cocoonfrench.com/guides/vendre-conjugation
- All free French guides: https://cocoonfrench.com/guides