Adorer Conjugation in French
adorer means “to adore” in English, and it is a verb French learners meet early and use often. This page gives you the complete conjugation of adorer — every tense, every person, the gerund and the past participle — with notes, examples, common mistakes and a quiz. Here is the verb in a natural sentence: “J'adore le chocolat noir.” — “I adore dark chocolate.” Learning the forms on this page first, before you try to use the verb in conversation, saves you from guessing later: French spelling and endings change with the person and the tense, and adorer is no exception. Work through the tables one tense at a time, say each form aloud, and then test yourself with the quiz at the end.
Quick facts
- Infinitive: adorer
- English: to adore
- Verb type: Regular -er verb
- Irregular in: — (regular in every tense)
- Gerund: en adorant
- Past participle: adoré
- Auxiliary: avoir (all perfect tenses are formed with avoir + the past participle)
Pronunciation is not listed on this page: the verified tables do not include IPA for adorer, so no pronunciation is given rather than an invented one.
Full conjugation tables
Every form below comes from VerbFlow’s verified conjugation tables for adorer. Learn the present tense first, then the passé composé and the imperfect, and add the remaining tenses one at a time.
Present indicative
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| je | adore |
| tu | adores |
| il/elle | adore |
| nous | adorons |
| vous | adorez |
| ils/elles | adorent |
Passé simple
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| je | adorai |
| tu | adoras |
| il/elle | adora |
| nous | adorâmes |
| vous | adorâtes |
| ils/elles | adorèrent |
Imperfect
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| je | adorais |
| tu | adorais |
| il/elle | adorait |
| nous | adorions |
| vous | adoriez |
| ils/elles | adoraient |
Future
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| je | adorerai |
| tu | adoreras |
| il/elle | adorera |
| nous | adorerons |
| vous | adorerez |
| ils/elles | adoreront |
Conditional
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| je | adorerais |
| tu | adorerais |
| il/elle | adorerait |
| nous | adorerions |
| vous | adoreriez |
| ils/elles | adoreraient |
Present perfect (passé composé)
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| je | ai adoré |
| tu | as adoré |
| il/elle | a adoré |
| nous | avons adoré |
| vous | avez adoré |
| ils/elles | ont adoré |
Pluperfect (plus-que-parfait)
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| je | avais adoré |
| tu | avais adoré |
| il/elle | avait adoré |
| nous | avions adoré |
| vous | aviez adoré |
| ils/elles | avaient adoré |
Future perfect
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| je | aurai adoré |
| tu | auras adoré |
| il/elle | aura adoré |
| nous | aurons adoré |
| vous | aurez adoré |
| ils/elles | auront adoré |
Conditional perfect
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| je | aurais adoré |
| tu | aurais adoré |
| il/elle | aurait adoré |
| nous | aurions adoré |
| vous | auriez adoré |
| ils/elles | auraient adoré |
Present subjunctive
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| je | adore |
| tu | adores |
| il/elle | adore |
| nous | adorions |
| vous | adoriez |
| ils/elles | adorent |
Imperfect subjunctive
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| je | adorasse |
| tu | adorasses |
| il/elle | adorât |
| nous | adorassions |
| vous | adorassiez |
| ils/elles | adorassent |
Imperative (affirmative)
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| tu | adore |
| nous | adorons |
| vous | adorez |
Imperative (negative)
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| tu | adore |
| nous | adorons |
| vous | adorez |
Gerund and past participle
| Form | French |
|---|---|
| Gerund | en adorant |
| Past participle | adoré |
When to use each tense
Present indicative
The present indicative is used for habits, facts and things happening now. For example: “J'adore le chocolat noir.” — “I adore dark chocolate.”
Passé simple
The passé simple is used for completed actions in the past, mainly in written and literary French. For example: “Tu adoras le chocolat noir.” — “You adored dark chocolate one day.”
Imperfect
The imperfect is used for ongoing or habitual actions in the past, and background description. For example: “Il adorait le chocolat noir quand j’étais jeune.” — “He used to adore dark chocolate.”
Future
The future is used for what will happen, predictions and promises. For example: “Nous adorerons le chocolat noir.” — “We will adore dark chocolate tomorrow.”
Conditional
The conditional is used for what would happen, polite requests and hypothetical situations. For example: “Vous adoreriez le chocolat noir.” — “You would adore dark chocolate if you could.”
Present perfect (passé composé)
The present perfect (passé composé) is used for recent past actions and completed events. With adorer it is formed with avoir + the past participle adoré. For example: “Ils ont adoré le chocolat noir hier.” — “They have adored dark chocolate.”
Pluperfect (plus-que-parfait)
The pluperfect (plus-que-parfait) is used for an action completed before another past action. For example: “J'avais adoré le chocolat noir avant la fête.” — “I had adored dark chocolate before the party.”
Future perfect
The future perfect is used for what will have happened by a point in the future. For example: “Tu auras adoré le chocolat noir.” — “You will have adored dark chocolate by tomorrow evening.”
Conditional perfect
The conditional perfect is used for what would have happened in a different past. For example: “Il aurait adoré le chocolat noir.” — “He would have adored dark chocolate if he had been able to.”
Present subjunctive
The present subjunctive is used for wishes, doubts, emotions and opinions after que. For example: “Il faut que je adore le chocolat noir.” — “It is important that I adore dark chocolate.”
Imperfect subjunctive
The imperfect subjunctive is used for the past subjunctive: wishes and hypotheticals about the past, mainly in formal writing. For example: “Il fallait que je adorasse le chocolat noir.” — “It was important that I adore dark chocolate.”
Imperative (affirmative)
The imperative (affirmative) is used for direct commands and instructions. For example: “Adore le chocolat noir !” — “Adore dark chocolate!”
Imperative (negative)
The imperative (negative) is used for prohibitions and negative commands. For example: “Adore le chocolat noir !” — “Do not adore dark chocolate!”
Gerund and past participle
The gerund is en adorant — “while adoring” — used after en to say how something happens. The past participle is adoré, used with avoir for the perfect tenses, as in ai adoré.
Example sentences
Ten natural sentences with adorer, covering different tenses and persons. Say each one aloud, then cover the French and try to produce it from the English.
- “J'adore le chocolat noir.” — “I adore dark chocolate.”
- “Tu adores le chocolat noir.” — “You adore dark chocolate.”
- “Il adorait le chocolat noir.” — “He used to adore dark chocolate.”
- “Nous adorerons le chocolat noir.” — “We will adore dark chocolate tomorrow.”
- “J'adorerais le chocolat noir.” — “I would adore dark chocolate if I could.”
- “Tu as adoré le chocolat noir.” — “You have adored dark chocolate.”
- “Il avait adoré le chocolat noir.” — “He had adored dark chocolate before the party.”
- “Nous aurons adoré le chocolat noir.” — “We will have adored dark chocolate by tomorrow evening.”
- “Il faut que je adore le chocolat noir.” — “It is important that I adore dark chocolate.”
- “Adore le chocolat noir !” — “Adore dark chocolate!”
Common mistakes
1. Using the infinitive instead of a conjugated form
✗ Wrong: “Je adorer le chocolat noir.”
✓ Right: “J'adore le chocolat noir.”
The infinitive adorer never takes a subject. After je you need the conjugated present form adore.
2. Confusing adorer with détester
✗ Wrong: “J'adore le froid de l’hiver.” (meant as “détester”)
✓ Right: “J'adore le chocolat noir.”
adorer means “to adore”; détester means “to hate”. Keep the two verbs apart by their meaning, not by their sound.
3. Using the wrong auxiliary for the passé composé
✗ Wrong: “Je suis adoré le chocolat noir.”
✓ Right: “J'ai adoré le chocolat noir.”
With adorer the passé composé is formed with avoir, not être: ai adoré.
4. Using the indicative after a subjunctive trigger
✗ Wrong: “Il faut que je adore le chocolat noir.”
✓ Right: “Il faut que je adore le chocolat noir.”
After il faut que French needs the subjunctive, so use adore here, not the indicative adore.
5. Using the present for a finished past event
✗ Wrong: “J'adore le chocolat noir hier.”
✓ Right: “J'ai adoré le chocolat noir hier.”
Yesterday’s finished event needs the passé composé (ai adoré), not the present.
Quiz: test yourself
What is the je form of adorer in the Present indicative?
- A) adorez
- B) adorent
- C) adorons
- D) adore
What is the ils/elles form of adorer in the Present indicative?
- A) adorons
- B) adorez
- C) adorent
- D) adore
What is the il/elle form of adorer in the Passé simple?
- A) adora
- B) adorâmes
- C) adorèrent
- D) adorai
What is the nous form of adorer in the Imperfect?
- A) adoriez
- B) adorais
- C) adorions
- D) adorait
What is the tu form of adorer in the Future?
- A) adorera
- B) adorerons
- C) adorerez
- D) adoreras
What is the je form of adorer in the Conditional?
- A) adorerions
- B) adorerais
- C) adorerait
- D) adoreriez
What is the il/elle form of adorer in the Present perfect (passé composé)?
- A) avez adoré
- B) as adoré
- C) ai adoré
- D) a adoré
What is the vous form of adorer in the Pluperfect (plus-que-parfait)?
- A) aviez adoré
- B) avais adoré
- C) avions adoré
- D) avaient adoré
What is the gerund of adorer?
- A) adoré
- B) adore
- C) en adorant
- D) adorerai
What is the past participle of adorer?
- A) en adorant
- B) adore
- C) adorais
- D) adoré
Answer key
- D) adore — the je form of adorer in the present indicative is adore.
- C) adorent — the ils/elles form of adorer in the present indicative is adorent.
- A) adora — the il/elle form of adorer in the passé simple is adora.
- C) adorions — the nous form of adorer in the imperfect is adorions.
- D) adoreras — the tu form of adorer in the future is adoreras.
- B) adorerais — the je form of adorer in the conditional is adorerais.
- D) a adoré — the il/elle form of adorer in the present perfect (passé composé) is a adoré.
- A) aviez adoré — the vous form of adorer in the pluperfect (plus-que-parfait) is aviez adoré.
- C) en adorant — the gerund of adorer is en adorant; it is used after en for actions in progress.
- D) adoré — the past participle of adorer is adoré; perfect tenses use avoir + adoré.
Frequently asked questions
What does adorer mean in English?
adorer means “to adore”. You use it in everyday situations like the examples on this page — for example, “J'adore le chocolat noir.” (“I adore dark chocolate.”). It is a core everyday verb, so its present-tense forms are worth learning first.
Is adorer regular or irregular?
adorer is regular: its endings follow the standard -er pattern in every tense. The gerund is en adorant and the past participle is adoré.
What are the gerund and past participle of adorer?
The gerund is en adorant — use it after en for actions in progress. The past participle is adoré — use it with avoir for the perfect tenses, as in ai adoré.
What is the difference between adorer and détester?
adorer means “to adore”, while détester means “to hate”. They are easy to mix up because they appear in similar situations, but their meanings are different. If you are unsure, check the full conjugation page for détester and compare the meanings in context.
How do I say “I adore” in French?
Say “J'adore le chocolat noir.” — “I adore dark chocolate.” The je form of the present is adore, and it is the form you will use most often.
How to learn adorer
Start with the present tense: adore, adores, adore, adorons, adorez, adorent. Say them in order every day for a week, then add the passé composé — ai adoré — and the imperfect — adorais. Next, learn the future (adorerai) and the conditional (adorerais), which share the same stem. Finally, tackle the subjunctive (adore) and the imperative (adore). Write one sentence of your own in each tense, using the examples above as models, and check every form against the tables. When you can produce all six persons of the present without looking, move on to the present-tense quiz.
Related pages
- adorer in the present tense — the full table and uses for this verb in the present tense.
- adorer examples and quiz — more example sentences and practice questions for this verb.
- French verbs — the full hub of French conjugation pages.
- French present tense guide — how this tense works for regular verbs.
- Detester conjugation — another French verb to practise with.
- Spanish verbs — the full hub of Spanish conjugation pages.
- Verb Conjugator — practise adorer with the interactive tool.
- Verb Quiz — practise adorer with the interactive tool.
- Present Tense Conjugator — practise the present tense with the interactive tool.
- VerbFlow home — back to the start.