French guides · Verb tables + audio
Travailler: the double L that is really a Y.
Travailler means “to work”, and it is a completely regular -er verb — the conjugation asks nothing of you. What it does ask is that you say it right, and that is where learners stall. The -ill- in the middle is not an l sound at all: it is the same y you hear in famille, fille and travail.
Présent — regular, and mispronounced
Stem travaill-, standard endings, no changes. Every form contains the -ill-, so if you get the sound right once you have it for the whole table.
| French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|
| je travaille | I work | |
| tu travailles | you work | |
| il / elle travaille | he / she works | |
| nous travaillons | we work | |
| vous travaillez | you work | |
| ils / elles travaillent | they work |
As a y. Je travaille is “zhuh tra-VYE”; nous travaillons is “noo tra-va-YOHN”. The same rule gives fille (“fee”), famille (“fa-MEE”) and gentille (“zhan-TEE”).
A few words keep a real l sound: ville (“veel”), mille (“meel”), tranquille and Lille. They are a short closed list and worth memorising as such — everything else with -ill- takes the y.
Saying where — and as what — you work
The prepositions are not guessable from English, and the job title drops its article in a way English never does.
| French | Means | |
|---|---|---|
| je travaille à Paris | I work in Paris | à for a town |
| je travaille dans une banque | I work in a bank | dans for a place |
| je travaille chez Renault | I work at Renault | chez for a company |
| je travaille comme ingénieur | I work as an engineer | no article after comme |
| je suis ingénieur | I’m an engineer | and none here either |
| je travaille sur un projet | I’m working on a project | sur |
French says je suis professeur, not je suis un professeur. Adding un is the single most common mistake English speakers make when saying what they do. The article only comes back if you describe the job: c’est un bon professeur.
Chez Renault, chez le médecin, chez moi. It means “at the place of”, which is why it covers both a firm and somebody’s home.
Passé composé — travaillé
Regular, with avoir: j’ai travaillé.
| French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|
| j’ai travaillé | I worked / have worked | |
| tu as travaillé | you worked / have worked | |
| il / elle a travaillé | he / she worked / have worked | |
| nous avons travaillé | we worked / have worked | |
| vous avez travaillé | you worked / have worked | |
| ils / elles ont travaillé | they worked / have worked |
Imparfait — used to work
Je travaillais — the tense for a former job, and the natural one for describing a routine.
| French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|
| je travaillais | I used to work / was working | |
| tu travaillais | you used to work / was working | |
| il / elle travaillait | he / she used to work / was working | |
| nous travaillions | we used to work / was working | |
| vous travailliez | you used to work / was working | |
| ils / elles travaillaient | they used to work / was working |
Futur and conditionnel
Full infinitive as stem: je travaillerai.
| French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|
| je travaillerai | I will work | |
| tu travailleras | you will work | |
| il / elle travaillera | he / she will work | |
| nous travaillerons | we will work | |
| vous travaillerez | you will work | |
| ils / elles travailleront | they will work |
Conditionnel — would work
Je travaillerais. Standard in a job interview: j’aimerais travailler chez vous.
| French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|
| je travaillerais | I would work | |
| tu travaillerais | you would work | |
| il / elle travaillerait | he / she would work | |
| nous travaillerions | we would work | |
| vous travailleriez | you would work | |
| ils / elles travailleraient | they would work |
Subjonctif — regular
Identical to the présent in four forms. Il faut que je travaille.
| French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|
| je travaille | (that) I work | |
| tu travailles | (that) you work | |
| il / elle travaille | (that) he / she work | |
| nous travaillions | (that) we work | |
| vous travailliez | (that) you work | |
| ils / elles travaillent | (that) they work |
Impératif — get to work
Travaille ! with no s. Bon courage is what French actually says to someone facing a hard shift — there is no real equivalent of “good luck with work”.
| French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|
| travaille ! | work! (to one person you know) | |
| travaillons ! | let’s work! | |
| travaillez ! | work! (formal, or to a group) |
Plus-que-parfait — had worked
J’avais travaillé.
| French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|
| j’avais travaillé | I had worked | |
| tu avais travaillé | you had worked | |
| il / elle avait travaillé | he / she had worked | |
| nous avions travaillé | we had worked | |
| vous aviez travaillé | you had worked | |
| ils / elles avaient travaillé | they had worked |
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Quick answers
Travailler, answered.
The questions that come up while you are learning the table.