Appartenir Examples, Sentences & Quiz in French
appartenir — to belong to — is one of the verbs you will use every day in French. It is a non-reflexive, irregular -ir verb, and it comes up in conversation, at work and at home. On this page you will find appartenir 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. The full conjugation tables are on the appartenir conjugation page, and the deep dive into its most practised tense is on the appartenir passé composé tense page.
Example sentences with appartenir
In the present tense
- “J'appartiens à Marie tous les jours.” — “I belong to Marie every day.”
- “Tu appartiens à Marie à la maison.” — “You belong to Marie at home.”
- “Il appartient à Marie ce matin.” — “He belongs to Marie this morning.”
- “Nous appartenons à Marie avec Paul.” — “We belong to Marie with Paul.”
- “Vous appartenez à Marie.” — “You belong to Marie.”
- “Ils appartiennent à Marie tous les jours.” — “They belong to Marie every day.”
In the passé composé
- “J'ai appartenu à Marie hier.” — “I have belonged to Marie yesterday.”
- “Tu as appartenu à Marie la semaine dernière.” — “You have belonged to Marie last week.”
- “Il a appartenu à Marie ce matin.” — “He has belonged to Marie this morning.”
- “Nous avons appartenu à Marie avant la fête.” — “We have belonged to Marie before the party.”
- “Vous avez appartenu à Marie.” — “You have belonged to Marie.”
- “Ils ont appartenu à Marie hier.” — “They have belonged to Marie yesterday.”
In other tenses
The same verb in the imperfect, the future, the conditional, the present subjunctive and the imperative — the tenses that complete the picture. All forms come from the verified tables.
- “J'appartenais à Marie à la maison.” — “I used to belong to Marie at home.”
- “Tu appartiendras à Marie bientôt.” — “You will belong to Marie soon.”
- “Il appartiendrait à Marie avec Paul.” — “He would belong to Marie with Paul.”
- “Il est important que nous appartenions à Marie tous les jours.” — “It is important that We belong to Marie every day.”
- “Appartiens à Marie !” — “Belong to Marie!”
Appartenir in context
J'appartiens à Marie tous les jours. Tu appartiens à Marie à la maison. Il appartient à Marie ce matin. Nous appartenons à Marie avec Paul. C’est une partie normale de la routine, et c’est pour cela que le présent de appartenir est la première forme qu’il convient d’apprendre. Chaque phrase utilise une personne différente, alors lisez-les à voix haute et remarquez comment la forme change — appartiens, appartiens, appartient, appartenons — tandis que le sens reste le même : to belong to. J'ai appartenu à Marie hier. Tu as appartenu à Marie la semaine dernière. Il a appartenu à Marie ce matin. Nous avons appartenu à Marie avant la fête. C’était une journée normale, mais c’est justement dans des journées comme celle-ci que le passé composé de appartenir apparaît sans cesse : une action terminée, un moment précis, et l’histoire continue. Comparez ces phrases avec celles du présent ci-dessus : le verbe change de temps, mais le sens de base — to belong to — ne change pas. C’est la différence entre une habitude et un événement terminé.
Common mistakes
1. Using the infinitive instead of a conjugated form
✗ Wrong: “Je appartenir à Marie.”
✓ Right: “J'appartiens à Marie tous les jours.”
The infinitive appartenir never takes a subject. After je you need the conjugated present form appartiens.
2. Using the wrong person
✗ Wrong: “Je appartiens à Marie.”
✓ Right: “J'appartiens à Marie tous les jours.”
appartiens is the tu form, not the je form. The je form is appartiens — check the person before you write the form.
3. Using the present for a finished past action
✗ Wrong: “J'appartiens à Marie hier.”
✓ Right: “J'ai appartenu à Marie hier.”
Hier points to the past, so use the present perfect ai appartenu here, not the present appartiens.
4. Mixing up the stem in the stressed forms
✗ Wrong: “Je appartenons à Marie.”
✓ Right: “J'appartiens à Marie tous les jours.”
appartenir is irregular in present, passe-simple, present-subjunctive, imperative-affirmative, imperative-negative: those tenses do not follow the regular -ir pattern, so learn them as a set rather than guessing from the infinitive. The other tenses follow the regular pattern.
Quiz: test yourself
Ten questions on appartenir across the tenses. Answers with explanations follow each question.
What is the tu form of appartenir in the Present indicative?
- A) appartiennes
- B) appartins
- C) appartiens
- D) appartinsses
What is the je form of appartenir in the Present perfect (passé composé)?
- A) appartinsse
- B) avais appartenu
- C) a appartenu
- D) ai appartenu
What is the il/elle form of appartenir in the Imperfect?
- A) aurait appartenu
- B) apparteniez
- C) appartenait
- D) appartenais
What is the nous form of appartenir in the Future?
- A) appartiendrai
- B) appartiendrions
- C) appartiendrons
- D) appartenions
What is the tu form of appartenir in the Conditional?
- A) appartiendrais
- B) appartiendras
- C) appartiendriez
- D) auras appartenu
What is the je form of appartenir in the Passé simple?
- A) appartiens
- B) appartinsse
- C) appartîntes
- D) appartins
What is the nous form of appartenir in the Present subjunctive?
- A) appartienne
- B) appartiennent
- C) appartiendrons
- D) appartenions
What is the gerund of appartenir?
- A) annonçant
- B) en appartenant
- C) lavant
- D) améliorant
What is the past participle of appartenir?
- A) comparé
- B) allumé
- C) éteint
- D) appartenu
What does appartenir mean in English?
- A) remove
- B) belong
- C) approach
- D) cause
Answer key
- C) appartiens — the tu form of appartenir in the present indicative is appartiens. The other options are forms of the same verb for different persons or tenses.
- D) ai appartenu — the je form of appartenir in the present perfect (passé composé) is ai appartenu. The other options are forms of the same verb for different persons or tenses.
- C) appartenait — the il/elle form of appartenir in the imperfect is appartenait. The other options are forms of the same verb for different persons or tenses.
- C) appartiendrons — the nous form of appartenir in the future is appartiendrons. The other options are forms of the same verb for different persons or tenses.
- A) appartiendrais — the tu form of appartenir in the conditional is appartiendrais. The other options are forms of the same verb for different persons or tenses.
- D) appartins — the je form of appartenir in the passé simple is appartins. The other options are forms of the same verb for different persons or tenses.
- D) appartenions — the nous form of appartenir in the present subjunctive is appartenions. The other options are forms of the same verb for different persons or tenses.
- B) en appartenant — the gerund of appartenir is en appartenant; it is used with en for actions happening at the same time as the main verb. The other options are the present participles of neighbouring verbs.
- D) appartenu — the past participle of appartenir is appartenu; perfect tenses use avoir + appartenu. The other options are the participles of neighbouring verbs.
- B) belong — appartenir means “to belong” in English. The other options are the meanings of neighbouring verbs.
Frequently asked questions
What does appartenir mean in English?
appartenir means “to belong to”. You use it whenever you talk about to belong to in French, in the present, the past and the future.
Is appartenir regular or irregular?
appartenir is irregular. appartenir is irregular in present, passe-simple, present-subjunctive, imperative-affirmative, imperative-negative: those tenses do not follow the regular -ir pattern, so learn them as a set rather than guessing from the infinitive. The other tenses follow the regular pattern.
What are the gerund and past participle of appartenir?
The gerund is en appartenant and the past participle is appartenu. The perfect tenses use avoir + appartenu.
Where can I see the full conjugation of appartenir?
On the appartenir conjugation page — every tense, every person, with tables. The appartenir passé composé tense page goes deeper into its most practised tense.
Pronunciation
Pronunciation is not listed on this page: the verified tables do not include IPA for appartenir, so no pronunciation is given rather than an invented one.
Related pages
- appartenir conjugation — full tables
- appartenir in the passé composé tense
- Approcher conjugation — another French verb in this batch.
- Conclure conjugation — another French verb in this batch.
- French verbs — the full hub of French conjugation pages.
- French irregular verbs — every common irregular French verb, grouped by pattern.
- Spanish verbs — the full hub of Spanish conjugation pages.
- Tense Finder — practise appartenir with the interactive tool.
- Future Conjugator — practise appartenir with the interactive tool.
- Por Vs Para Quiz — practise appartenir with the interactive tool.