boire Examples, Sentences & Quiz in French

boire — drink — is one of the verbs you will use every day in French. boire is the verb for ordering a drink in a café: it comes up whenever you talk about talking about daily habits at the table or describing what you drank yesterday. On this page you will find boire 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 boire

In the present tense

  • “Je bois de l'eau.” — “I drink water.”
  • “Tu bois un café.” — “You drink a coffee.”
  • “Il boit du thé.” — “He drinks some tea.”
  • “Nous buvons un verre de jus.” — “We drink a glass of juice.”
  • “Vous buvez de l'eau.” — “You drink water.”
  • “Ils boivent un café.” — “They drink a coffee.”

In the passé composé

  • “J'ai bu de l'eau cette semaine.” — “I have drunk water this week.”
  • “Tu as bu un café cette semaine.” — “You have drunk a coffee this week.”
  • “Il a bu du thé cette semaine.” — “He has drunk some tea this week.”
  • “Nous avons bu un verre de jus cette semaine.” — “We have drunk a glass of juice this week.”
  • “Vous avez bu de l'eau cette semaine.” — “You have drunk water this week.”
  • “Ils ont bu un café cette semaine.” — “They have drunk a coffee 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.

  • “Je buvais de l'eau avant.” — “I used to drink water before.”
  • “Je boirai un café demain.” — “I will drink a coffee tomorrow.”
  • “Je boirais du thé un jour.” — “I would drink some tea one day.”
  • “Bien que il boive un verre de jus” — “Although he drinks a glass of juice.”

boire in context

Je bois de l'eau. Tu bois un café. Il boit du thé. Nous buvons un verre de jus.

I drink water. You drink a coffee. He drinks some tea. We drink a glass of juice.

J'ai bu de l'eau. Il a bu un café. Nous avons bu du thé.

I have drunk water this week. He has drunk a coffee this week. We have drunk some tea this week.

Common mistakes with boire

Mistake 1

Wrong: Je boire de l'eau.

Right: Je bois de l'eau.

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

Mistake 2

Wrong: Je buvons un café.

Right: Je bois un café.

buvons is the nous form. With je, use bois.

Mistake 3

Wrong: Hier, je bois du thé.

Right: Hier, j'ai bu du thé.

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

Mistake 4

Wrong: Bien que je bois un verre de jus.

Right: Bien que je boive un verre de jus.

After bien que French needs the subjunctive boive.

Mistake 5

Wrong: Je buvais de l'eau hier. (said of one finished moment)

Right: J'ai bu de l'eau hier.

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

Quiz: test yourself on boire

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

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

    • A) buvons
    • B) buvez
    • C) boivent
    • D) bois

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

    • A) buvez
    • B) bois
    • C) buvons
    • D) boivent

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

    • A) ai bu
    • B) a bu
    • C) as bu
    • D) ont bu

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

    • A) buviez
    • B) buvions
    • C) buvaient
    • D) buvais

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

    • A) boira
    • B) boirons
    • C) boiras
    • D) boirai

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

    • A) boirais
    • B) boirions
    • C) boiraient
    • D) boirait

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

    • A) buvions
    • B) boivent
    • C) boive
    • D) boives

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

    • A) bût
    • B) bussions
    • C) bussent
    • D) busses

  9. What is the gerund of boire?

    • A) dormant
    • B) buvant
    • C) ouvrant

  10. What is the past participle of boire?

  • A) ouvert
  • B) dormi
  • C) bu

Answer key

  1. D) bois — The tu form of boire in the present indicative is bois.
  2. C) buvons — The nous form of boire in the present indicative is buvons.
  3. B) a bu — The il/elle form of boire in the present perfect is a bu.
  4. D) buvais — The je form of boire in the imperfect is buvais.
  5. B) boirons — The nous form of boire in the future is boirons.
  6. A) boirais — The tu form of boire in the conditional is boirais.
  7. C) boive — The je form of boire in the present subjunctive is boive.
  8. A) bût — The il/elle form of boire in the imperfect subjunctive is bût.
  9. B) buvant — The gerund of boire is en buvant; it is used after en for actions in progress.
  10. C) bu — The past participle of boire is bu; perfect tenses use avoir + bu.

Frequently asked questions

What does boire mean in English?

boire means “drink”. You use it for ordering a drink in a café, for talking about daily habits at the table, and for describing what you drank yesterday.

Is boire regular or irregular?

boire is irregular, and it is irregular in these tenses: present, passe-simple, future, conditional, present-subjunctive, imperfect-subjunctive, imperative-affirmative, imperative-negative, gerund, past-participle. The gerund is en buvant and the past participle is bu.

How do I say “I drink” in French?

Say “Je bois de l'eau.” — “I drink water.” The je form of the present is bois.

Where can I see the full conjugation of boire?

On the full conjugation page, which has every tense, and on the Boire Passé Composé Tense Conjugation in French page.

How to practise boire this week

Pick one tense a day and say five sentences with boire 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 — de l'eau, un café and du thé — and change only the person, so you hear how bois, bois and boit sound next to each other. On the second day, retell yesterday in the passé composé with ai bu 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 buvant and bu 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 boire, so no pronunciation is given rather than an invented one.

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