# Voir Conjugation — Every Tense of the French Verb “To See”

> **Voir** means “to see”. Présent: **je vois, tu vois, il voit, nous voyons, vous voyez, ils voient**. Its futur stem is irregular — **verr-**, with two *r*s — giving *je verrai*. Seeing is passive; for deliberately watching something, French uses **regarder**.

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Updated: 2026-09-16

## Présent — the y appears

Voi- in the singular and for ils; voy- for nous and vous. That y is just the i doing what French spelling makes it do between two vowels, and the same swap happens in croire and envoyer.

| French | English |
|---|---|
| je vois | I see |
| tu vois | you see |
| il / elle voit | he / she sees |
| nous voyons | we see |
| vous voyez | you see |
| ils / elles voient | they see |

**Four forms, one sound** — Vois, vois, voit and voient are all pronounced identically — “vwa”. The -ent on the plural is silent like every other -ent, and unlike prendre or venir there is no doubled consonant to break the tie. Only the subject pronoun tells you how many people are seeing.

## Voir or regarder?

The split is the same one English draws between “see” and “look at”, but French holds to it more strictly — and it applies to films and television, where English says “watch” and “see” almost interchangeably.

| French | Means | Because |
|---|---|---|
| je vois la mer | I can see the sea | it is simply in view |
| je regarde la mer | I’m looking at the sea | you chose to |
| j’ai vu ce film | I’ve seen that film | you have it in your memory |
| je regarde un film | I’m watching a film | you are doing it now |
| on se voit demain ? | shall we meet tomorrow? | seeing each other = meeting |

**French does not need “can”** — Je vois covers both “I see” and “I can see”. Adding pouvoir — je peux voir — is not wrong but says something narrower: that you are able to, that nothing is blocking your view. For ordinary “I can see it”, use the bare présent.

## Passé composé — vu

With avoir, participle vu — one syllable. Tu as vu ? on its own is an everyday “did you see that?”.

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

## Imparfait — and the ii trap

Built from voyons, which produces a spelling that looks like a typo and is not.

| French | English |
|---|---|
| je voyais | I used to see / could see |
| tu voyais | you used to see / could see |
| il / elle voyait | he / she used to see / could see |
| nous voyions | we used to see / could see |
| vous voyiez | you used to see / could see |
| ils / elles voyaient | they used to see / could see |

**⚠ nous voyions has a y and an i** — The stem ends in y and the imparfait ending for nous begins with i, so both survive: voyions, voyiez. It sounds almost identical to the présent voyons, and dropping the i is one of the most common written mistakes with this verb — including among native speakers.

## Futur and conditionnel — verr-

The one thing on this page you have to memorise. The futur stem is verr-: je verrai, tu verras, on verra. That last one is a conversational staple — “we’ll see” — and is worth learning as a fixed phrase before you learn the tense.

| French | English |
|---|---|
| je verrai | I will see |
| tu verras | you will see |
| il / elle verra | he / she will see |
| nous verrons | we will see |
| vous verrez | you will see |
| ils / elles verront | they will see |

**The family splits here** — Revoir follows it exactly (je reverrai), but prévoir does not — it goes back to being regular in the futur, je prévoirai. Two verbs off the same root, two different futurs.

## Conditionnel — would see

Same verr- stem: je verrais. Also the polite frame for a suggestion — je verrais bien…, “I could see us…”.

| French | English |
|---|---|
| je verrais | I would see |
| tu verrais | you would see |
| il / elle verrait | he / she would see |
| nous verrions | we would see |
| vous verriez | you would see |
| ils / elles verraient | they would see |

## Subjonctif — voie

The boot again, and the y back for nous and vous. Il faut que je voie un médecin — and note it is voie, not vois.

| French | English |
|---|---|
| je voie | (that) I see |
| tu voies | (that) you see |
| il / elle voie | (that) he / she see |
| nous voyions | (that) we see |
| vous voyiez | (that) you see |
| ils / elles voient | (that) they see |

## Impératif — look here

Vois is rare on its own, but voyons is very common as an interjection — roughly “come on now” or “let’s see” — and voyez turns up in explanations: voyez-vous, “you see”.

| French | English |
|---|---|
| vois ! | see! (to one person you know) |
| voyons ! | let’s see! |
| voyez ! | see! (formal, or to a group) |

## Plus-que-parfait — had seen

Je l’avais vu — and here the participle does agree, because the object comes before the verb: je l’avais vue if the thing seen was feminine.

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

## FAQ

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

Je vois, tu vois, il / elle voit, nous voyons, vous voyez, ils / elles voient. Four of the six are pronounced the same.

### What is the futur of voir?

Je verrai — the stem is verr-, not voir-. On verra, “we’ll see”, is the form you will hear most.

### What is the difference between voir and regarder?

Voir is seeing — passive, it just happens. Regarder is looking or watching — deliberate. You regardez a film while it is on and you have vu it afterwards.

### What is the past participle of voir?

Vu, with avoir. It agrees if a direct object comes before it: je l’ai vue.

### Why is it nous voyions in the imperfect?

Because the stem voy- ends in y and the ending -ions begins with i. Both letters stay, giving voyions — easy to mishear as the présent voyons.

### How do you say “see you tomorrow” in French?

À demain, or on se voit demain if you are confirming a plan. Au revoir itself is built on this verb — “until we see each other again”.

## Related guides

- Savoir conjugation: https://cocoonfrench.com/guides/savoir-conjugation
- Lire conjugation: https://cocoonfrench.com/guides/lire-conjugation
- French verb conjugation: https://cocoonfrench.com/guides/french-verb-conjugation
- All free French guides: https://cocoonfrench.com/guides