Demander Conjugation in French
demander means “to ask” in English, and it is one of the first verbs French learners meet — it sits at number 21 in VerbFlow’s frequency list for French verbs. You use it whenever you talk about asking a question to the teacher, and 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 demander — 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 demande une question au professeur tous les jours.” — “I ask a question to the teacher every day.”
Quick facts
- Infinitive: demander
- English: to ask
- Verb type: Regular
- Irregular in: none — regular in every tense
- Gerund: demandant
- Past participle: demandé
- Auxiliary: avoir (all perfect tenses are formed with avoir + the past participle)
- Ending: -er verbs; pattern er in the verified tables
Pronunciation
Pronunciation is not listed on this page: the verified tables do not include IPA for demander, so no pronunciation is given rather than an invented one. Learn the spelling of the forms first, and listen to a native speaker for the sounds rather than trusting an invented transcription. The forms below are the ones that matter: once you can read demander in every tense, you can recognise it in speech even before you can pronounce every form perfectly.
Three things to remember about demander
- It is regular: every form follows the ordinary -er pattern, so once you know the stem you can build the whole table. The only work is learning the endings, not memorising exceptions.
- The perfect tenses use avoir: the present perfect is formed with avoir in the present plus the past participle demandé. The tables on this page give the participle in the masculine singular form, exactly as it appears in the verified dump; agreement with the subject is a separate step that depends on the sentence, not on the verb table.
- The gerund is demandant and the participle is demandé: keep both in mind as you read the tables, because the gerund appears in progressive constructions and the participle appears in every perfect tense. If you know those two forms and the present tense, you already know the skeleton of the whole conjugation.
Full conjugation tables
Every form below comes from VerbFlow’s verified conjugation tables for demander. 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 | demande |
| tu | demandes |
| il/elle | demande |
| nous | demandons |
| vous | demandez |
| ils/elles | demandent |
The present indicative is used for habits, facts and things happening now. For example: “Je demande de l'aide à mon frère tous les jours.” — “I ask some help from my brother every day.”
Passé simple
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| je | demandai |
| tu | demandas |
| il/elle | demanda |
| nous | demandâmes |
| vous | demandâtes |
| ils/elles | demandèrent |
The passé simple is used for completed actions in the past, mostly in written and literary French. For example: “Tu demandas de l'aide à mon frère hier.” — “You asked some help from my brother yesterday.”
Imperfect
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| je | demandais |
| tu | demandais |
| il/elle | demandait |
| nous | demandions |
| vous | demandiez |
| ils/elles | demandaient |
The imperfect is used for ongoing or habitual actions in the past, and for background description. For example: “Il demandait de l'aide à mon frère autrefois.” — “He used to ask some help from my brother in the past.”
Future
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| je | demanderai |
| tu | demanderas |
| il/elle | demandera |
| nous | demanderons |
| vous | demanderez |
| ils/elles | demanderont |
The future is used for what will happen, for predictions and for probability. For example: “Je demanderai de l'aide à mon frère demain.” — “I will ask some help from my brother tomorrow.”
Conditional
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| je | demanderais |
| tu | demanderais |
| il/elle | demanderait |
| nous | demanderions |
| vous | demanderiez |
| ils/elles | demanderaient |
The conditional is used for what would happen, for polite requests and for hypothetical situations. For example: “Tu demanderais de l'aide à mon frère un jour.” — “You would ask some help from my brother one day.”
Present perfect (passé composé)
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| je | ai demandé |
| tu | as demandé |
| il/elle | a demandé |
| nous | avons demandé |
| vous | avez demandé |
| ils/elles | ont demandé |
The present perfect (passé composé) is used for completed actions in the past, especially in spoken French. For example: “Il a demandé de l'aide à mon frère cette semaine.” — “He has asked some help from my brother this week.”
Pluperfect (plus-que-parfait)
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| je | avais demandé |
| tu | avais demandé |
| il/elle | avait demandé |
| nous | avions demandé |
| vous | aviez demandé |
| ils/elles | avaient demandé |
The pluperfect (plus-que-parfait) is used for an action completed before another past action. For example: “J'avais demandé de l'aide à mon frère avant la fête.” — “I had asked some help from my brother before the party.”
Future perfect
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| je | aurai demandé |
| tu | auras demandé |
| il/elle | aura demandé |
| nous | aurons demandé |
| vous | aurez demandé |
| ils/elles | auront demandé |
The future perfect is used for what will have happened by a point in the future. For example: “Tu auras demandé de l'aide à mon frère pour demain.” — “You will have asked some help from my brother by tomorrow.”
Conditional perfect
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| je | aurais demandé |
| tu | aurais demandé |
| il/elle | aurait demandé |
| nous | aurions demandé |
| vous | auriez demandé |
| ils/elles | auraient demandé |
The conditional perfect is used for what would have happened in a different past. For example: “Il aurait demandé de l'aide à mon frère hier.” — “He would have asked some help from my brother yesterday.”
Present subjunctive
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| je | demande |
| tu | demandes |
| il/elle | demande |
| nous | demandions |
| vous | demandiez |
| ils/elles | demandent |
The present subjunctive is used for wishes, doubts, emotions and opinions after que. For example: “Il est important que je demande de l'aide à mon frère.” — “It is important that I ask some help from my brother.”
Imperfect subjunctive
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| je | demandasse |
| tu | demandasses |
| il/elle | demandât |
| nous | demandassions |
| vous | demandassiez |
| ils/elles | demandassent |
The imperfect subjunctive is used in formal written French for past wishes and hypotheticals after que. For example: “Il est important que tu demandasses de l'aide à mon frère.” — “It is important that you ask some help from my brother.”
Imperative (affirmative)
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| tu | demande |
| nous | demandons |
| vous | demandez |
The imperative (affirmative) is used for direct commands and instructions. For example: “Demande de l'aide à mon frère !” — “Ask some help from my brother!”
Imperative (negative)
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| tu | demande |
| nous | demandons |
| vous | demandez |
The imperative (negative) is used for prohibitions and negative commands. For example: “Ne demande pas de l'aide à mon frère.” — “Do not ask some help from my brother.”
Gerund
| Form | French |
|---|---|
| Gerund | en demandant |
The gerund is used for an action happening at the same time as another action, usually after en. For example: “En demandant une question au professeur, je passe un bon moment.” — “While asking a question to the teacher, I have a good time.”
Past participle
| Form | French |
|---|---|
| Past participle | demandé |
The past participle is used with an auxiliary to form the perfect tenses, and as an adjective. For example: “J'ai demandé une question au professeur cette semaine.” — “I have asked a question to the teacher this week.”
Example sentences
Ten natural sentences with demander, covering different tenses and persons. Say each one aloud, then cover the French and try to produce it from the English.
- “Je demande une question au professeur tous les jours.” — “I ask a question to the teacher every day.”
- “Tu demandas de l'aide à mon frère hier.” — “You asked some help from my brother yesterday.”
- “Il demandait l'heure à Marie autrefois.” — “He used to ask the time from Marie in the past.”
- “Je demanderai une question au professeur demain.” — “I will ask a question to the teacher tomorrow.”
- “Tu demanderais de l'aide à mon frère un jour.” — “You would ask some help from my brother one day.”
- “Il a demandé l'heure à Marie cette semaine.” — “He has asked the time from Marie this week.”
- “J'avais demandé une question au professeur avant la fête.” — “I had asked a question to the teacher before the party.”
- “Tu auras demandé de l'aide à mon frère pour demain.” — “You will have asked some help from my brother by tomorrow.”
- “Il est important que il demande l'heure à Marie.” — “It is important that he ask the time from Marie.”
- “Demande une question au professeur !” — “Ask a question to the teacher!”
Common mistakes
1. Using the infinitive instead of a conjugated form
✗ Wrong: “Je demander une question au professeur.”
✓ Right: “Je demande une question au professeur.”
The infinitive demander never takes a subject. After je you need the conjugated present form demande.
2. Using the wrong person’s form
✗ Wrong: “Je demandent une question au professeur.”
✓ Right: “Je demande une question au professeur.”
demandent is the ils/elles form, not the je form. Match the verb to the subject every time: je goes with demande.
3. Using the passé simple for a present habit
✗ Wrong: “Je demandai une question au professeur tous les jours.”
✓ Right: “Je demande une question au professeur tous les jours.”
The passé simple demandai describes one finished past action. For something that happens every day, use the present demande.
4. Using the indicative after a subjunctive trigger
✗ Wrong: “Il est important que je demande une question au professeur.”
✓ Right: “Il est important que je demande une question au professeur.”
After il est important que French needs the subjunctive, so use demande here, not the indicative demande.
5. Using the wrong auxiliary in the passé composé
✗ Wrong: “Je suis demandé une question au professeur.”
✓ Right: “Je ai demandé une question au professeur.”
The passé composé of demander is formed with avoir plus the past participle demandé: the je form is ai demandé. Check the auxiliary in the table above before you build a perfect tense.
6. Dropping a written accent
✗ Wrong: “demande” written without its accent
✓ Right: “demande”
Accents are part of the spelling in French. Write the form exactly as it appears in the table, accent included, or it looks like a different word.
Quiz: test yourself
Ten questions on demander. Choose the right form, then check the answer key below.
What is the je form of demander in the Present indicative?
- A) demandons
- B) demandez
- C) demande
- D) demandes
What is the il/elle form of demander in the Passé simple?
- A) demandas
- B) demandâmes
- C) demanda
- D) demandai
What is the nous form of demander in the Imperfect?
- A) demandait
- B) demandiez
- C) demandions
- D) demandais
What is the tu form of demander in the Future?
- A) demanderas
- B) demanderai
- C) demandera
- D) demanderons
What is the je form of demander in the Conditional?
- A) demanderait
- B) demanderions
- C) demanderiez
- D) demanderais
What is the il/elle form of demander in the Present perfect (passé composé)?
- A) avons demandé
- B) a demandé
- C) ai demandé
- D) as demandé
What is the il/elle form of demander in the Present subjunctive?
- A) demandions
- B) demandiez
- C) demande
- D) demandes
What is the je form of demander in the Imperfect subjunctive?
- A) demandasses
- B) demandât
- C) demandassions
- D) demandasse
What is the gerund of demander?
- A) en portant
- B) en demandant
- C) en passant
- D) en tenant
What does demander mean in English?
- A) to hold
- B) to carry, to wear
- C) to ask
- D) to pass, to spend
Answer key
- C) demande — the je form of demander in the Present indicative is demande. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
- C) demanda — the il/elle form of demander in the Passé simple is demanda. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
- C) demandions — the nous form of demander in the Imperfect is demandions. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
- A) demanderas — the tu form of demander in the Future is demanderas. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
- D) demanderais — the je form of demander in the Conditional is demanderais. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
- B) a demandé — the il/elle form of demander in the Present perfect (passé composé) is a demandé. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
- C) demande — the il/elle form of demander in the Present subjunctive is demande. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
- D) demandasse — the je form of demander in the Imperfect subjunctive is demandasse. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
- B) en demandant — the gerund of demander is en demandant; it is used after en for actions happening at the same time as another action. The other options are the gerunds of neighbouring verbs.
- C) to ask — demander means “to ask” in English. The other options are the meanings of neighbouring verbs.
Frequently asked questions
What does demander mean in English?
demander means “to ask”. It is a core everyday verb, so its present-tense forms are worth learning first.
Is demander regular or irregular?
demander is regular: it follows the ordinary -er pattern in every tense. The gerund is demandant and the past participle is demandé.
What are the gerund and past participle of demander?
The gerund is demandant — use it after en for an action happening at the same time as another action. The past participle is demandé — use it with avoir for the perfect tenses, as in ai demandé.
Which auxiliary does demander take in the passé composé?
demander takes avoir in the passé composé: the je form is ai demandé. All four perfect tenses on this page are built with avoir plus the past participle demandé.
How do I say “I ask” in French?
Say “Je demande une question au professeur tous les jours.” — “I ask a question to the teacher every day.” The je form of the present is demande, and it is the form you will use most often.
Related pages
- Full conjugation of demander — every tense of demander in one place.
- Demander in the present tense — the full table and usage rules for one tense.
- Demander examples and quiz — more example sentences and practice questions for this verb.
- Passer conjugation — another everyday French verb.
- Tenir conjugation — another everyday French verb.
- Porter conjugation — another everyday French verb.
- 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 Conjugator — practise demander with the interactive tool.
- Conjugation Chart Printer — practise demander with the interactive tool.
- Tense Finder — practise demander with the interactive tool.