# Travailler Conjugation — Every Tense of the French Verb “To Work”

> **Travailler** means “to work”. Présent: **je travaille, tu travailles, il travaille, nous travaillons, vous travaillez, ils travaillent** — fully regular. The catch is pronunciation, not spelling: **-ill-** here is a *y* sound, so *travaille* is “tra-VYE”, not “tra-VILL”.

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Updated: 2026-09-16

## 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 |
|---|---|
| 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 |

**How -ill- is pronounced** — 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”).

**⚠ The handful of exceptions** — 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 |

**⚠ No article with a job** — 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 is for people and companies** — 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 |
|---|---|
| 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 |
|---|---|
| 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 |
|---|---|
| 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 |
|---|---|
| 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 |
|---|---|
| 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 |
|---|---|
| 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 |
|---|---|
| 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 |

## FAQ

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

Je travaille, tu travailles, il / elle travaille, nous travaillons, vous travaillez, ils / elles travaillent.

### How do you pronounce travailler?

The -ill- is a y sound, not an l: je travaille is “tra-VYE”, nous travaillons is “tra-va-YOHN”.

### Which -ill- words keep a real L sound?

A short list: ville, mille, tranquille and Lille. Everything else takes the y.

### How do you say “I work as a teacher” in French?

Je travaille comme professeur, or simply je suis professeur. Either way there is no article before the job.

### Do you say je travaille à or dans?

À before a town, dans before a kind of place, chez before a company or a person: à Paris, dans une banque, chez Renault.

## Related guides

- Commencer conjugation: https://cocoonfrench.com/guides/commencer-conjugation
- Parler conjugation: https://cocoonfrench.com/guides/parler-conjugation
- French verb conjugation: https://cocoonfrench.com/guides/french-verb-conjugation
- All free French guides: https://cocoonfrench.com/guides