Danser Conjugation in French
danser means “dance” in English, and it is a verb French learners meet early — it sits in VerbFlow’s frequency list for French. You use it for talking about a party, for describing a dance class, and for celebrating with friends. Because it comes up in everyday conversation so often, learning its forms properly pays off from the very first week. This page gives you the complete conjugation of danser — 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: “Je danse le tango.” — “I dance the tango.”
Quick facts
- Infinitive: danser
- English: dance
- Verb type: Regular
- Irregular in: none — it is regular in every tense
- Gerund: en dansant
- Past participle: dansé
- Auxiliary: avoir (all perfect tenses are formed with avoir + the past participle)
Pronunciation
Pronunciation is not listed on this page: the verified tables do not include IPA for danser, so no pronunciation is given rather than an invented one.
Full conjugation tables
Every form below comes from VerbFlow’s verified conjugation tables for danser. 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 | danse |
| tu | danses |
| il/elle | danse |
| nous | dansons |
| vous | dansez |
| ils/elles | dansent |
Passé simple
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| je | dansai |
| tu | dansas |
| il/elle | dansa |
| nous | dansâmes |
| vous | dansâtes |
| ils/elles | dansèrent |
Imperfect
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| je | dansais |
| tu | dansais |
| il/elle | dansait |
| nous | dansions |
| vous | dansiez |
| ils/elles | dansaient |
Future
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| je | danserai |
| tu | danseras |
| il/elle | dansera |
| nous | danserons |
| vous | danserez |
| ils/elles | danseront |
Conditional
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| je | danserais |
| tu | danserais |
| il/elle | danserait |
| nous | danserions |
| vous | danseriez |
| ils/elles | danseraient |
Present subjunctive
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| je | danse |
| tu | danses |
| il/elle | danse |
| nous | dansions |
| vous | dansiez |
| ils/elles | dansent |
Imperfect subjunctive
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| je | dansasse |
| tu | dansasses |
| il/elle | dansât |
| nous | dansassions |
| vous | dansassiez |
| ils/elles | dansassent |
Present perfect
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| je | ai dansé |
| tu | as dansé |
| il/elle | a dansé |
| nous | avons dansé |
| vous | avez dansé |
| ils/elles | ont dansé |
Pluperfect (past perfect)
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| je | avais dansé |
| tu | avais dansé |
| il/elle | avait dansé |
| nous | avions dansé |
| vous | aviez dansé |
| ils/elles | avaient dansé |
Future perfect
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| je | aurai dansé |
| tu | auras dansé |
| il/elle | aura dansé |
| nous | aurons dansé |
| vous | aurez dansé |
| ils/elles | auront dansé |
Conditional perfect
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| je | aurais dansé |
| tu | aurais dansé |
| il/elle | aurait dansé |
| nous | aurions dansé |
| vous | auriez dansé |
| ils/elles | auraient dansé |
Imperative (affirmative)
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| tu | danse |
| nous | dansons |
| vous | dansez |
Imperative (negative)
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| tu | danse |
| nous | dansons |
| vous | dansez |
Gerund and past participle
| Form | French |
|---|---|
| Gerund | en dansant |
| Past participle | dansé |
When to use each tense
Present indicative
The present indicative is used for habits, facts and things happening now. For example: “Je danse toute la nuit.” — “I dance all night.”
Passé simple
The passé simple is used for completed actions in the past, mainly in written and literary French. For example: “Je dansai toute la nuit hier.” — “I danced all night yesterday.”
Imperfect
The imperfect is used for ongoing or habitual actions in the past, and background description. For example: “Je dansais toute la nuit avant.” — “I used to dance all night before.”
Future
The future is used for what will happen, predictions and plans. For example: “Je danserai toute la nuit demain.” — “I will dance all night tomorrow.”
Conditional
The conditional is used for what would happen, polite requests and hypothetical situations. For example: “Je danserais toute la nuit un jour.” — “I would dance all night one day.”
Present subjunctive
The present subjunctive is used for wishes, doubts, emotions and opinions after que. For example: “Bien que je danse toute la nuit” — “Although I dance all night.”
Imperfect subjunctive
The imperfect subjunctive is used for the past subjunctive: wishes and hypotheticals about the past, in formal and literary French. For example: “Bien que je dansasse toute la nuit” — “Although I dance all night.”
Present perfect
The present perfect is used for recent past actions and life experience; this is the everyday spoken past tense, the passé composé. For example: “J'ai dansé toute la nuit cette semaine.” — “I have danced all night this week.”
Pluperfect (past perfect)
The pluperfect (past perfect) is used for an action completed before another past action. For example: “J'avais dansé toute la nuit avant la fête.” — “I had danced all night before the party.”
Future perfect
The future perfect is used for what will have happened by a point in the future. For example: “J'aurai dansé toute la nuit pour demain.” — “I will have danced all night by tomorrow.”
Conditional perfect
The conditional perfect is used for what would have happened in a different past. For example: “J'aurais dansé toute la nuit hier.” — “I would have danced all night yesterday.”
Imperative (affirmative)
The imperative (affirmative) is used for direct commands and instructions. For example: “danse toute la nuit !” — “Dance all night!”
Imperative (negative)
The imperative (negative) is used for prohibitions and negative commands. For example: “Ne danse pas toute la nuit !” — “Don't dance all night!”
Gerund and past participle
The gerund en dansant is used after en for an action in progress, and the past participle dansé builds the perfect tenses with avoir. For example: “J'ai dansé avec Marie cette semaine.” — “I have danced with Marie this week.”
Example sentences
Ten natural sentences with danser, covering different tenses and persons. Say each one aloud, then cover the French and try to produce it from the English.
- “Je danse le tango.” — “I dance the tango.”
- “Tu dansas toute la nuit hier.” — “You danced all night yesterday.”
- “Il dansait avec Marie avant.” — “He used to dance with Marie before.”
- “Je danserai très bien demain.” — “I will dance very well tomorrow.”
- “Tu danserais le tango un jour.” — “You would dance the tango one day.”
- “Il a dansé toute la nuit cette semaine.” — “He has danced all night this week.”
- “J'avais dansé avec Marie avant la fête.” — “I had danced with Marie before the party.”
- “Tu auras dansé très bien pour demain.” — “You will have danced very well by tomorrow.”
- “Bien que il danse le tango” — “Although he dances the tango.”
- “danse toute la nuit !” — “Dance all night!”
Common mistakes
1. Using the infinitive instead of a conjugated form
✗ Wrong: “Je danser le tango.”
✓ Right: “Je danse le tango.”
The infinitive danser never takes a subject. After je you need the conjugated present form danse.
2. Using the wrong person
✗ Wrong: “Je dansons toute la nuit.”
✓ Right: “Je danse toute la nuit.”
dansons is the nous form. With je the present form is danse — check the person in the table before you speak.
3. Using the present for a finished past action
✗ Wrong: “Hier, je danse le tango.”
✓ Right: “Hier, j'ai dansé le tango.”
The present danse describes now. For something finished yesterday, use the passé composé ai dansé.
4. Using the passé simple in everyday speech
✗ Wrong: “Hier, je dansai avec Marie.” (in casual conversation)
✓ Right: “Hier, j'ai dansé avec Marie.”
The passé simple dansai belongs in novels and formal writing. In everyday speech, say the passé composé ai dansé.
5. Using the indicative after a subjunctive trigger
✗ Wrong: “Bien que je danse le tango.”
✓ Right: “Bien que je danse le tango.”
After bien que French needs the subjunctive, so use danse here, not the indicative danse.
6. Using the imperfect for a single finished action
✗ Wrong: “Je dansais très bien avant.” (said of one finished moment)
✓ Right: “J'ai dansé très bien avant.”
The imperfect dansais describes something ongoing or repeated in the past. For one finished action, use the passé composé ai dansé.
Quiz: test yourself
Ten questions on danser. Choose the right form, then check the answer key below.
What is the je form of danser in the Present indicative?
- A) dansez
- B) danse
- C) danses
- D) dansent
What is the il/elle form of danser in the Passé simple?
- A) dansas
- B) dansâtes
- C) dansa
- D) dansai
What is the nous form of danser in the Imperfect?
- A) dansiez
- B) dansais
- C) dansions
- D) dansaient
What is the tu form of danser in the Future?
- A) danserez
- B) dansera
- C) danseras
- D) danserons
What is the je form of danser in the Conditional?
- A) danseriez
- B) danserions
- C) danserais
- D) danseraient
What is the il/elle form of danser in the Present subjunctive?
- A) danses
- B) danse
- C) dansiez
- D) dansions
What is the je form of danser in the Imperfect subjunctive?
- A) dansassions
- B) dansassent
- C) dansassiez
- D) dansasse
What is the gerund of danser?
- A) dormant
- B) dansant
- C) buvant
What is the past participle of danser?
- A) dansé
- B) bu
- C) dormi
What does danser mean in English?
- A) drink
- B) sleep
- C) dance
- D) open
Answer key
- B) danse — The je form of danser in the present indicative is danse.
- C) dansa — The il/elle form of danser in the passé simple is dansa.
- C) dansions — The nous form of danser in the imperfect is dansions.
- C) danseras — The tu form of danser in the future is danseras.
- C) danserais — The je form of danser in the conditional is danserais.
- B) danse — The il/elle form of danser in the present subjunctive is danse.
- D) dansasse — The je form of danser in the imperfect subjunctive is dansasse.
- B) dansant — The gerund of danser is en dansant; it is used after en for actions in progress.
- A) dansé — The past participle of danser is dansé; perfect tenses use avoir + dansé.
- C) dance — danser means “dance” in English.
Frequently asked questions
What does danser mean in English?
danser means “dance”. You use it for talking about a party, for describing a dance class, and for celebrating with friends. It is a core everyday verb, so its present-tense forms are worth learning first.
Is danser regular or irregular?
danser is regular, and it is irregular in these tenses: none — it is regular in every tense. The gerund is en dansant and the past participle is dansé.
What are the gerund and past participle of danser?
The gerund is en dansant — use it after en for actions in progress. The past participle is dansé — use it with avoir for the perfect tenses, as in ai dansé.
How do I say “I dance” in French?
Say “Je danse le tango.” — “I dance the tango.” The je form of the present is danse, and it is the form you will use most often.
What is the difference between danser and chanter?
danser means “dance” while chanter means “sing” — they describe different actions, so they are not interchangeable. Compare the full table for chanter and check the meaning in context before you choose.
Related pages
- Danser Present Tense Conjugation in French
- Danser Examples, Sentences & Quiz in French
- Chanter conjugation
- Jouer conjugation
- Sauter conjugation
- French verbs — the full hub of French conjugation pages.
- Spanish verbs — the full hub of Spanish conjugation pages.
- VerbFlow home — all languages and tools.
- Verb Conjugator — practise danser with the interactive tool.
- Verb Quiz — practise danser with the interactive tool.
- Present Tense Conjugator — practise danser with the interactive tool.