cuisiner Examples, Sentences & Quiz in French

cuisiner — cook — is one of the verbs you will use every day in French. cuisiner is the verb for talking about cooking at home: it comes up whenever you talk about describing a recipe or preparing dinner. On this page you will find cuisiner 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 cuisiner

In the present tense

  • “Je cuisine un repas.” — “I cook a meal.”
  • “Tu cuisines des pâtes.” — “You cook pasta.”
  • “Il cuisine pour la famille.” — “He cooks for the family.”
  • “Nous cuisinons très bien.” — “We cook very well.”
  • “Vous cuisinez un repas.” — “You cook a meal.”
  • “Ils cuisinent des pâtes.” — “They cook pasta.”

In the passé composé

  • “J'ai cuisiné un repas cette semaine.” — “I have cooked a meal this week.”
  • “Tu as cuisiné des pâtes cette semaine.” — “You have cooked pasta this week.”
  • “Il a cuisiné pour la famille cette semaine.” — “He has cooked for the family this week.”
  • “Nous avons cuisiné très bien cette semaine.” — “We have cooked very well this week.”
  • “Vous avez cuisiné un repas cette semaine.” — “You have cooked a meal this week.”
  • “Ils ont cuisiné des pâtes cette semaine.” — “They have cooked pasta 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 cuisinais un repas avant.” — “I used to cook a meal before.”
  • “Je cuisinerai des pâtes demain.” — “I will cook pasta tomorrow.”
  • “Je cuisinerais pour la famille un jour.” — “I would cook for the family one day.”
  • “Bien que il cuisine très bien” — “Although he cooks very well.”

cuisiner in context

Je cuisine un repas. Tu cuisines des pâtes. Il cuisine pour la famille. Nous cuisinons très bien.

I cook a meal. You cook pasta. He cooks for the family. We cook very well.

J'ai cuisiné un repas. Il a cuisiné des pâtes. Nous avons cuisiné pour la famille.

I have cooked a meal this week. He has cooked pasta this week. We have cooked for the family this week.

Common mistakes with cuisiner

Mistake 1

Wrong: Je cuisiner un repas.

Right: Je cuisine un repas.

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

Mistake 2

Wrong: Je cuisinons des pâtes.

Right: Je cuisine des pâtes.

cuisinons is the nous form. With je, use cuisine.

Mistake 3

Wrong: Hier, je cuisine pour la famille.

Right: Hier, j'ai cuisiné pour la famille.

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

Mistake 4

Wrong: Bien que je cuisine très bien.

Right: Bien que je cuisine très bien.

After bien que French needs the subjunctive cuisine.

Mistake 5

Wrong: Je cuisinais un repas hier. (said of one finished moment)

Right: J'ai cuisiné un repas hier.

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

Quiz: test yourself on cuisiner

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

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

    • A) cuisinons
    • B) cuisinez
    • C) cuisines
    • D) cuisinent

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

    • A) cuisinez
    • B) cuisinons
    • C) cuisine
    • D) cuisinent

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

    • A) a cuisiné
    • B) ont cuisiné
    • C) ai cuisiné
    • D) avez cuisiné

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

    • A) cuisinait
    • B) cuisinaient
    • C) cuisinais
    • D) cuisiniez

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

    • A) cuisinerons
    • B) cuisinerai
    • C) cuisinerez
    • D) cuisinera

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

    • A) cuisinerait
    • B) cuisinerais
    • C) cuisinerions
    • D) cuisineraient

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

    • A) cuisine
    • B) cuisines
    • C) cuisinent
    • D) cuisiniez

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

    • A) cuisinât
    • B) cuisinassions
    • C) cuisinasse
    • D) cuisinassiez

  9. What is the gerund of cuisiner?

    • A) buvant
    • B) dormant
    • C) cuisinant

  10. What is the past participle of cuisiner?

  • A) bu
  • B) dormi
  • C) cuisiné

Answer key

  1. C) cuisines — The tu form of cuisiner in the present indicative is cuisines.
  2. B) cuisinons — The nous form of cuisiner in the present indicative is cuisinons.
  3. A) a cuisiné — The il/elle form of cuisiner in the present perfect is a cuisiné.
  4. C) cuisinais — The je form of cuisiner in the imperfect is cuisinais.
  5. A) cuisinerons — The nous form of cuisiner in the future is cuisinerons.
  6. B) cuisinerais — The tu form of cuisiner in the conditional is cuisinerais.
  7. A) cuisine — The je form of cuisiner in the present subjunctive is cuisine.
  8. A) cuisinât — The il/elle form of cuisiner in the imperfect subjunctive is cuisinât.
  9. C) cuisinant — The gerund of cuisiner is en cuisinant; it is used after en for actions in progress.
  10. C) cuisiné — The past participle of cuisiner is cuisiné; perfect tenses use avoir + cuisiné.

Frequently asked questions

What does cuisiner mean in English?

cuisiner means “cook”. You use it for talking about cooking at home, for describing a recipe, and for preparing dinner.

Is cuisiner regular or irregular?

cuisiner is regular, and it is irregular in these tenses: none — it is regular in every tense. The gerund is en cuisinant and the past participle is cuisiné.

How do I say “I cook” in French?

Say “Je cuisine un repas.” — “I cook a meal.” The je form of the present is cuisine.

Where can I see the full conjugation of cuisiner?

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

How to practise cuisiner this week

Pick one tense a day and say five sentences with cuisiner 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 — un repas, des pâtes and pour la famille — and change only the person, so you hear how cuisine, cuisines and cuisine sound next to each other. On the second day, retell yesterday in the passé composé with ai cuisiné 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 cuisinant and cuisiné 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 cuisiner, so no pronunciation is given rather than an invented one.

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