# Vendre Conjugation — Every Tense of the French Verb “To Sell”

> **Vendre** means “to sell”. Présent: **je vends, tu vends, il vend, nous vendons, vous vendez, ils vendent**. It is the model for the **-re** family, and its *il* form is unusual in French: it takes **no ending at all** — just the bare stem.

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Updated: 2026-09-16

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

**Why il vend has nothing on it** — 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.

**All four singular-ish forms sound the same** — 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 |

**The test** — 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 |
|---|---|
| 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 |
|---|---|
| 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 |
|---|---|
| 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 |
|---|---|
| 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 |
|---|---|
| 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 |
|---|---|
| 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 |
|---|---|
| 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 |

## FAQ

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

Je vends, tu vends, il / elle vend, nous vendons, vous vendez, ils / elles vendent.

### Why does il vend have no ending?

Because the stem already ends in d, and French does not add a second consonant on top of it. Every regular -re verb has this bare third-person singular.

### What are the -re verb endings?

-s, -s, nothing, -ons, -ez, -ent.

### What is the past participle of vendre?

Vendu. Regular -re verbs swap -re for -u.

### Is prendre a regular -re verb?

No. Its singular looks identical to vendre’s, but it drops the d for nous and vous and doubles the n for ils. That plural is the test.

### Which verbs conjugate like vendre?

Attendre, entendre, répondre, perdre, descendre and rendre.

## Related guides

- Attendre conjugation: https://cocoonfrench.com/guides/attendre-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