French guides · Verb tables + audio
Vendre: the model -re verb, and a form with no ending.
Vendre means “to sell”, and it is the model for the third and smallest regular family. It is also the only pattern in French where one form takes no ending whatsoever: il vend is the bare stem with nothing after it. Once you have seen that, the rest of the table is the least eventful in the language.
Présent — -s, -s, nothing
Drop the -re from the infinitive to get the stem vend-, then add -s, -s, —, -ons, -ez, -ent. That dash is not a typo: the il form really is the bare stem.
| French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|
| je vends | I sell | |
| tu vends | you sell | |
| il / elle vend | he / she sells | |
| nous vendons | we sell | |
| vous vendez | you sell | |
| ils / elles vendent | they sell |
The stem already ends in d. French does not stack a t on top of it, the way it would for a stem ending in a vowel. So where finir gives il finit, vendre gives il vend. Every regular -re verb does this.
Vends, vends and vend are one sound — “vahn” — because s and d are both silent at the end of a word. Vendent is “vahnd”, with the d audible because the silent -ent behind it stops it being final.
Which verbs follow this pattern
The -re family is small and worth learning as a list, because a good many -re verbs are not in it.
| Follows vendre | Does NOT follow vendre | |
|---|---|---|
| attendre — to wait | prendre — to take | drops the d in the plural |
| entendre — to hear | mettre — to put | single t in the singular |
| répondre — to answer | boire — to drink | three stems |
| perdre — to lose | dire — to say | vous dites |
| descendre — to go down | écrire — to write | grows a v |
| rendre — to give back | lire — to read | grows an s |
If the stem keeps its consonant all the way through the plural — vendons, vendez, vendent — it is regular. If something changes for nous and vous, it is not. Prendre is the one that catches everybody, because its singular is identical to vendre’s.
Passé composé — vendu
Regular -re verbs form the participle by swapping -re for -u: vendu, attendu, entendu, perdu. Built with avoir.
| French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|
| j’ai vendu | I sold / have sold | |
| tu as vendu | you sold / have sold | |
| il / elle a vendu | he / she sold / have sold | |
| nous avons vendu | we sold / have sold | |
| vous avez vendu | you sold / have sold | |
| ils / elles ont vendu | they sold / have sold |
Imparfait — regular
From vendons: je vendais. Nothing to watch.
| French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|
| je vendais | I used to sell / was selling | |
| tu vendais | you used to sell / was selling | |
| il / elle vendait | he / she used to sell / was selling | |
| nous vendions | we used to sell / was selling | |
| vous vendiez | you used to sell / was selling | |
| ils / elles vendaient | they used to sell / was selling |
Futur and conditionnel — drop the e
This is the one place -re verbs differ from the other two families: the final e of the infinitive is dropped before the endings go on. Vendre → vendr- → je vendrai. Every futur stem in French ends in r, which is why the e has to go.
| French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|
| je vendrai | I will sell | |
| tu vendras | you will sell | |
| il / elle vendra | he / she will sell | |
| nous vendrons | we will sell | |
| vous vendrez | you will sell | |
| ils / elles vendront | they will sell |
Conditionnel — would sell
Je vendrais, on the same stem.
| French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|
| je vendrais | I would sell | |
| tu vendrais | you would sell | |
| il / elle vendrait | he / she would sell | |
| nous vendrions | we would sell | |
| vous vendriez | you would sell | |
| ils / elles vendraient | they would sell |
Subjonctif — regular
From the ils stem, with no changes: que je vende.
| French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|
| je vende | (that) I sell | |
| tu vendes | (that) you sell | |
| il / elle vende | (that) he / she sell | |
| nous vendions | (that) we sell | |
| vous vendiez | (that) you sell | |
| ils / elles vendent | (that) they sell |
Impératif — the s stays
Vends ! keeps its s, unlike the -er family.
| French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|
| vends ! | sell! (to one person you know) | |
| vendons ! | let’s sell! | |
| vendez ! | sell! (formal, or to a group) |
Plus-que-parfait — had sold
J’avais vendu.
| French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|
| j’avais vendu | I had sold | |
| tu avais vendu | you had sold | |
| il / elle avait vendu | he / she had sold | |
| nous avions vendu | we had sold | |
| vous aviez vendu | you had sold | |
| ils / elles avaient vendu | they had sold |
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Quick answers
Vendre, answered.
The questions that come up while you are learning the table.