acheter Examples, Sentences & Quiz in French

acheter — buy — is one of the verbs you will use every day in French. acheter is the verb for shopping at the market: it comes up whenever you talk about buying a present or talking about what you bought. On this page you will find acheter in real sentences, grouped by meaning and tense, two short texts that show it in context, the mistakes learners actually make with it, and a ten-question quiz with explained answers. Start with the examples, say them aloud, and then test yourself.

Example sentences with acheter

In the present tense

  • “J'achète du pain.” — “I buy some bread.”
  • “Tu achètes un livre.” — “You buy a book.”
  • “Il achète des fleurs.” — “He buys some flowers.”
  • “Nous achetons une robe.” — “We buy a dress.”
  • “Vous achetez du pain.” — “You buy some bread.”
  • “Ils achètent un livre.” — “They buy a book.”

In the passé composé

  • “J'ai acheté du pain cette semaine.” — “I have bought some bread this week.”
  • “Tu as acheté un livre cette semaine.” — “You have bought a book this week.”
  • “Il a acheté des fleurs cette semaine.” — “He has bought some flowers this week.”
  • “Nous avons acheté une robe cette semaine.” — “We have bought a dress this week.”
  • “Vous avez acheté du pain cette semaine.” — “You have bought some bread this week.”
  • “Ils ont acheté un livre cette semaine.” — “They have bought a book this week.”

In other tenses

The same verb in the imperfect, the future, the conditional and the present subjunctive — the four tenses that complete the picture. All forms come from the verified tables.

  • “J'achetais du pain avant.” — “I used to buy some bread before.”
  • “J'achèterai un livre demain.” — “I will buy a book tomorrow.”
  • “J'achèterais des fleurs un jour.” — “I would buy some flowers one day.”
  • “Bien que il achète une robe” — “Although he buys a dress.”

acheter in context

J'achète du pain. Tu achètes un livre. Il achète des fleurs. Nous achetons une robe.

I buy some bread. You buy a book. He buys some flowers. We buy a dress.

J'ai acheté du pain. Il a acheté un livre. Nous avons acheté des fleurs.

I have bought some bread this week. He has bought a book this week. We have bought some flowers this week.

Common mistakes with acheter

Mistake 1

Wrong: Je acheter du pain.

Right: Je achète du pain.

The infinitive never takes a subject: after je you need the conjugated form achète.

Mistake 2

Wrong: Je achetons un livre.

Right: Je achète un livre.

achetons is the nous form. With je, use achète.

Mistake 3

Wrong: Hier, je achète des fleurs.

Right: Hier, j'ai acheté des fleurs.

Yesterday needs the passé composé ai acheté, not the present.

Mistake 4

Wrong: Bien que je achète une robe.

Right: Bien que je achète une robe.

After bien que French needs the subjunctive achète.

Mistake 5

Wrong: Je achetais du pain hier. (said of one finished moment)

Right: J'ai acheté du pain hier.

The imperfect describes an ongoing or repeated past. One finished moment yesterday takes the passé composé.

Quiz: test yourself on acheter

Ten questions on acheter. Choose the right form, then check the answer key below.

  1. What is the tu form of acheter in the Present indicative?

    • A) achètes
    • B) achète
    • C) achetons
    • D) achetez

  2. What is the nous form of acheter in the Present indicative?

    • A) achetons
    • B) achètent
    • C) achètes
    • D) achète

  3. What is the il/elle form of acheter in the Present perfect?

    • A) avez acheté
    • B) a acheté
    • C) ont acheté
    • D) avons acheté

  4. What is the je form of acheter in the Imperfect?

    • A) achetiez
    • B) achetais
    • C) achetaient
    • D) achetait

  5. What is the nous form of acheter in the Future?

    • A) achèteront
    • B) achèteras
    • C) achèterez
    • D) achèterons

  6. What is the tu form of acheter in the Conditional?

    • A) achèterions
    • B) achèterait
    • C) achèteriez
    • D) achèterais

  7. What is the je form of acheter in the Present subjunctive?

    • A) achètes
    • B) achète
    • C) achetiez
    • D) achètent

  8. What is the il/elle form of acheter in the Imperfect subjunctive?

    • A) achetât
    • B) achetassiez
    • C) achetasses
    • D) achetassent

  9. What is the gerund of acheter?

    • A) buvant
    • B) dormant
    • C) achetant

  10. What is the past participle of acheter?

  • A) dormi
  • B) bu
  • C) acheté

Answer key

  1. A) achètes — The tu form of acheter in the present indicative is achètes.
  2. A) achetons — The nous form of acheter in the present indicative is achetons.
  3. B) a acheté — The il/elle form of acheter in the present perfect is a acheté.
  4. B) achetais — The je form of acheter in the imperfect is achetais.
  5. D) achèterons — The nous form of acheter in the future is achèterons.
  6. D) achèterais — The tu form of acheter in the conditional is achèterais.
  7. B) achète — The je form of acheter in the present subjunctive is achète.
  8. A) achetât — The il/elle form of acheter in the imperfect subjunctive is achetât.
  9. C) achetant — The gerund of acheter is en achetant; it is used after en for actions in progress.
  10. C) acheté — The past participle of acheter is acheté; perfect tenses use avoir + acheté.

Frequently asked questions

What does acheter mean in English?

acheter means “buy”. You use it for shopping at the market, for buying a present, and for talking about what you bought.

Is acheter regular or irregular?

acheter is regular with a spelling change (grave-e), and it is irregular in these tenses: present, present-subjunctive, imperative-affirmative, imperative-negative. The gerund is en achetant and the past participle is acheté.

How do I say “I buy” in French?

Say “J'achète du pain.” — “I buy some bread.” The je form of the present is achète.

Where can I see the full conjugation of acheter?

On the full conjugation page, which has every tense, and on the Acheter Present Tense Conjugation in French page.

How to practise acheter this week

Pick one tense a day and say five sentences with acheter out loud, using the examples on this page as your starting point. On the first day, use only the present tense and the complements from the examples above — du pain, un livre and des fleurs — and change only the person, so you hear how achète, achètes and achète sound next to each other. On the second day, retell yesterday in the passé composé with ai acheté and the other perfect forms from the table. On the third day, write three short plans for tomorrow in the future tense, and on the fourth day, turn them into polite conditional sentences. Keep a small notebook and write each new sentence down: seeing en achetant and acheté in your own handwriting fixes them in memory far better than reading them once. Finally, take the quiz above again without looking at the answer key — when you can answer all ten questions from memory, move on to the next verb in the hub.

Pronunciation

Pronunciation is not listed on this page: the verified tables do not include IPA for acheter, so no pronunciation is given rather than an invented one.

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