Comprendre: Examples, Sentences and Quiz in French
Introduction
Comprendre means “to understand”, and it is one of the most useful verbs in French — you will meet it in conversation, in books, in films and in every textbook. This page puts the verb to work: twelve example sentences across the tenses, a short dialogue you can act out, a tour of the verb in its most important tenses, the mistakes learners make most often, and a ten-question quiz with explained answers. Every form on this page comes from the verified conjugation tables for comprendre, so you can trust what you read here. Start with the examples, say them aloud, and then test yourself with the quiz at the end.
Example sentences
Twelve sentences with comprendre, in different tenses and with different subjects. Read the French first, guess the meaning, then check the English.
- “Je comprends la leçon aujourd'hui tous les jours.” — “I understand the lesson today every day.”
- “Tu comprends le français très bien tous les jours.” — “You understand French very well every day.”
- “J'ai compris ce que Marie dit cette semaine.” — “I have understood what Marie says this week.”
- “Il comprenait la leçon aujourd'hui autrefois.” — “He used to understand the lesson today in the past.”
- “Nous comprendrons le français très bien demain.” — “We will understand French very well tomorrow.”
- “Tu as compris ce que Marie dit cette semaine.” — “You have understood what Marie says this week.”
- “Je comprendrais la leçon aujourd'hui un jour.” — “I would understand the lesson today one day.”
- “Il est important que il comprenne le français très bien.” — “It is important that he understand French very well.”
- “Nous avions compris ce que Marie dit avant la fête.” — “We had understood what Marie says before the party.”
- “Il comprendra la leçon aujourd'hui demain.” — “He will understand the lesson today tomorrow.”
- “Ils comprennent le français très bien tous les jours.” — “They understand French very well every day.”
- “Comprends ce que Marie dit !” — “Understand what Marie says!”
A short dialogue
Marie and Pierre are talking about the lesson today. Read the dialogue aloud, one voice per person, and notice how comprendre changes with the tense and the subject. Every form of comprendre below is taken from the verified tables.
Marie : Tu fais quoi, ce soir ? Pierre : “Je comprends la leçon aujourd'hui tous les jours.” — “I understand the lesson today every day.” Marie : Et demain ? Pierre : “Je comprendrai le français très bien demain.” — “I will understand French very well tomorrow.” Marie : Tu as fait ça hier aussi ? Pierre : “J'ai compris ce que Marie dit cette semaine.” — “I have understood what Marie says this week.” Marie : Tu ferais ça un jour ? Pierre : “Je comprendrais la leçon aujourd'hui un jour.” — “I would understand the lesson today one day.”
Notice how the dialogue moves through time: the present for what is happening now, the future for tomorrow, the passé composé for yesterday, and the conditional for what someone would do one day. The verb stays the same — only the tense changes — and that is the whole point of learning a conjugation table: one verb, many moments.
Comprendre in different tenses
The same verb does different jobs in different tenses. Here are the six uses of comprendre that matter most, each with a sentence you can copy and adapt.
The present: habits and facts
In the present, comprendre describes habits, facts and what is happening now. The je form is comprends: “Je comprends la leçon aujourd'hui tous les jours.” — “I understand the lesson today every day.”
The imperfect: the past as it used to be
In the imperfect, comprendre describes the past as it used to be — background, habit, an action in progress. The il form is comprenait: “Il comprenait le français très bien autrefois.” — “He used to understand French very well in the past.”
The passé composé: finished actions
In the passé composé, comprendre reports one finished action, built with avoir plus the participle compris. The je form is ai compris: “J'ai compris ce que Marie dit cette semaine.” — “I have understood what Marie says this week.”
The future: what will happen
In the future, comprendre talks about what will happen. The nous form is comprendrons: “Nous comprendrons la leçon aujourd'hui demain.” — “We will understand the lesson today tomorrow.”
The conditional: what would happen
In the conditional, comprendre talks about what would happen. The tu form is comprendrais: “Tu comprendrais le français très bien un jour.” — “You would understand French very well one day.”
The subjunctive: wishes and doubts
In the subjunctive, comprendre appears after triggers such as il est important que. The form is comprenne, and the sentence keeps the same complement as the other tenses: “Il est important que je comprenne ce que Marie dit.” — “It is important that I understand what Marie says.”
Common mistakes
Using the infinitive instead of a conjugated form
✗ Wrong: “Je comprendre la leçon aujourd'hui.”
✓ Right: “Je comprends la leçon aujourd'hui.”
The infinitive comprendre never takes a subject. After je you need the conjugated form comprends.
Using the wrong person’s form
✗ Wrong: “Tu comprends la leçon aujourd'hui.”
✓ Right: “Tu comprends la leçon aujourd'hui.”
comprends is the je form. With tu you need comprends. Check the subject before you choose the form.
Using the present for a finished past action
✗ Wrong: “Je comprends la leçon aujourd'hui hier.”
✓ Right: “Je ai compris la leçon aujourd'hui hier.”
The time word hier points to the past, so a finished action needs the passé composé ai compris, not the present.
Using the indicative after a subjunctive trigger
✗ Wrong: “Il est important que tu comprends le français très bien.”
✓ Right: “Il est important que tu comprennes le français très bien.”
After il est important que French needs the subjunctive: comprennes, not the indicative comprends.
Forgetting the auxiliary in the passé composé
✗ Wrong: “Je compris la leçon aujourd'hui.”
✓ Right: “Je ai compris la leçon aujourd'hui.”
The passé composé of comprendre needs the auxiliary avoir plus the participle compris: the full je form is ai compris.
Quiz: test yourself
Ten questions on comprendre. Choose the right answer, then check the answer key below.
What is the je form of comprendre in the Present indicative?
- A) comprenez
- B) comprends
- C) comprend
- D) comprenons
What is the tu form of comprendre in the Present indicative?
- A) comprenez
- B) comprends
- C) comprend
- D) comprenons
What is the il/elle form of comprendre in the Present perfect (passé composé)?
- A) as compris
- B) avons compris
- C) a compris
- D) ai compris
What is the nous form of comprendre in the Imperfect?
- A) comprenais
- B) comprenait
- C) compreniez
- D) comprenions
What is the tu form of comprendre in the Future?
- A) comprendra
- B) comprendrons
- C) comprendras
- D) comprendrai
What is the je form of comprendre in the Conditional?
- A) comprendriez
- B) comprendrais
- C) comprendrait
- D) comprendrions
What is the il/elle form of comprendre in the Present subjunctive?
- A) compreniez
- B) comprenne
- C) comprennes
- D) comprenions
What is the je form of comprendre in the Pluperfect (plus-que-parfait)?
- A) avait compris
- B) avions compris
- C) aviez compris
- D) avais compris
What is the gerund of comprendre?
- A) en appelant
- B) en permettant
- C) en comprenant
- D) en commençant
What does comprendre mean in English?
- A) to allow
- B) to understand
- C) to begin
- D) to call
Answer key
- B) comprends — the je form of comprendre in the Present indicative is comprends. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
- B) comprends — the tu form of comprendre in the Present indicative is comprends. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
- C) a compris — the il/elle form of comprendre in the Present perfect (passé composé) is a compris. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
- D) comprenions — the nous form of comprendre in the Imperfect is comprenions. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
- C) comprendras — the tu form of comprendre in the Future is comprendras. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
- B) comprendrais — the je form of comprendre in the Conditional is comprendrais. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
- B) comprenne — the il/elle form of comprendre in the Present subjunctive is comprenne. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
- D) avais compris — the je form of comprendre in the Pluperfect (plus-que-parfait) is avais compris. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
- C) en comprenant — the gerund of comprendre is en comprenant. The other options are the gerunds of neighbouring verbs.
- B) to understand — comprendre means “to understand” in English. The other options are the meanings of neighbouring verbs.
Frequently asked questions
What does comprendre mean in English?
comprendre means “to understand”. It is a core everyday verb, so its present-tense forms are worth learning first.
Is comprendre regular or irregular?
comprendre is irregular in these tenses: present, passe-simple, present-subjunctive, imperative-affirmative, imperative-negative. The gerund is comprenant and the past participle is compris.
How do I practise comprendre every day?
Say one sentence with comprendre in the present, one in the passé composé and one in the future every day, using the examples on this page as models — for example, “Je comprends la leçon aujourd'hui tous les jours.”, “J'ai compris la leçon aujourd'hui cette semaine.” and “Je comprendrai la leçon aujourd'hui demain.”. Then take the quiz again and check your answers against the key.
Pronunciation
Pronunciation is not listed on this page: the verified tables do not include IPA for comprendre, so no pronunciation is given rather than an invented one.
Related pages
- Full conjugation of comprendre — every tense of comprendre in one place.
- Comprendre in the passé composé tense — the full table and usage rules for one tense.
- Comprendre examples and quiz — more example sentences and practice questions for this verb.
- Commencer conjugation — another everyday French verb.
- Appeler conjugation — another everyday French verb.
- Permettre conjugation — another everyday French verb.
- French irregular verbs — every common irregular French verb, grouped by pattern.
- French verbs — the full hub of French conjugation pages.
- Spanish verbs — the full hub of Spanish conjugation pages.
- VerbFlow home — all languages, tools and verb lists.
- Spanish Verb Quiz — practise comprendre with the interactive tool.
- Conjugation Practice — practise comprendre with the interactive tool.
- Verb Translator — practise comprendre with the interactive tool.