Économiser Conjugation in French
économiser means “to save (money)” in English, and it is a verb French learners meet early and use often. This page gives you the complete conjugation of économiser — 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: “J'économise de l’argent chaque mois.” — “I save money every month.” Learning the forms on this page first, before you try to use the verb in conversation, saves you from guessing later: French spelling and endings change with the person and the tense, and économiser is no exception. Work through the tables one tense at a time, say each form aloud, and then test yourself with the quiz at the end.
Quick facts
- Infinitive: économiser
- English: to save (money)
- Verb type: Regular -er verb
- Irregular in: — (regular in every tense)
- Gerund: en économisant
- Past participle: économisé
- Auxiliary: avoir (all perfect tenses are formed with avoir + the past participle)
Pronunciation is not listed on this page: the verified tables do not include IPA for économiser, so no pronunciation is given rather than an invented one.
Full conjugation tables
Every form below comes from VerbFlow’s verified conjugation tables for économiser. 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 | économise |
| tu | économises |
| il/elle | économise |
| nous | économisons |
| vous | économisez |
| ils/elles | économisent |
Passé simple
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| je | économisai |
| tu | économisas |
| il/elle | économisa |
| nous | économisâmes |
| vous | économisâtes |
| ils/elles | économisèrent |
Imperfect
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| je | économisais |
| tu | économisais |
| il/elle | économisait |
| nous | économisions |
| vous | économisiez |
| ils/elles | économisaient |
Future
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| je | économiserai |
| tu | économiseras |
| il/elle | économisera |
| nous | économiserons |
| vous | économiserez |
| ils/elles | économiseront |
Conditional
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| je | économiserais |
| tu | économiserais |
| il/elle | économiserait |
| nous | économiserions |
| vous | économiseriez |
| ils/elles | économiseraient |
Present perfect (passé composé)
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| je | ai économisé |
| tu | as économisé |
| il/elle | a économisé |
| nous | avons économisé |
| vous | avez économisé |
| ils/elles | ont économisé |
Pluperfect (plus-que-parfait)
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| je | avais économisé |
| tu | avais économisé |
| il/elle | avait économisé |
| nous | avions économisé |
| vous | aviez économisé |
| ils/elles | avaient économisé |
Future perfect
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| je | aurai économisé |
| tu | auras économisé |
| il/elle | aura économisé |
| nous | aurons économisé |
| vous | aurez économisé |
| ils/elles | auront économisé |
Conditional perfect
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| je | aurais économisé |
| tu | aurais économisé |
| il/elle | aurait économisé |
| nous | aurions économisé |
| vous | auriez économisé |
| ils/elles | auraient économisé |
Present subjunctive
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| je | économise |
| tu | économises |
| il/elle | économise |
| nous | économisions |
| vous | économisiez |
| ils/elles | économisent |
Imperfect subjunctive
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| je | économisasse |
| tu | économisasses |
| il/elle | économisât |
| nous | économisassions |
| vous | économisassiez |
| ils/elles | économisassent |
Imperative (affirmative)
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| tu | économise |
| nous | économisons |
| vous | économisez |
Imperative (negative)
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| tu | économise |
| nous | économisons |
| vous | économisez |
Gerund and past participle
| Form | French |
|---|---|
| Gerund | en économisant |
| Past participle | économisé |
When to use each tense
Present indicative
The present indicative is used for habits, facts and things happening now. For example: “J'économise de l’argent chaque mois.” — “I save money every month.”
Passé simple
The passé simple is used for completed actions in the past, mainly in written and literary French. For example: “Tu économisas de l’argent chaque mois.” — “You saved money every month one day.”
Imperfect
The imperfect is used for ongoing or habitual actions in the past, and background description. For example: “Il économisait de l’argent chaque mois quand j’étais jeune.” — “He used to save money every month.”
Future
The future is used for what will happen, predictions and promises. For example: “Nous économiserons de l’argent chaque mois.” — “We will save money every month tomorrow.”
Conditional
The conditional is used for what would happen, polite requests and hypothetical situations. For example: “Vous économiseriez de l’argent chaque mois.” — “You would save money every month if you could.”
Present perfect (passé composé)
The present perfect (passé composé) is used for recent past actions and completed events. With économiser it is formed with avoir + the past participle économisé. For example: “Ils ont économisé de l’argent chaque mois hier.” — “They have saved money every month.”
Pluperfect (plus-que-parfait)
The pluperfect (plus-que-parfait) is used for an action completed before another past action. For example: “J'avais économisé de l’argent chaque mois avant la fête.” — “I had saved money every month before the party.”
Future perfect
The future perfect is used for what will have happened by a point in the future. For example: “Tu auras économisé de l’argent chaque mois.” — “You will have saved money every month by tomorrow evening.”
Conditional perfect
The conditional perfect is used for what would have happened in a different past. For example: “Il aurait économisé de l’argent chaque mois.” — “He would have saved money every month if he had been able to.”
Present subjunctive
The present subjunctive is used for wishes, doubts, emotions and opinions after que. For example: “Il faut que je économise de l’argent chaque mois.” — “It is important that I save money every month.”
Imperfect subjunctive
The imperfect subjunctive is used for the past subjunctive: wishes and hypotheticals about the past, mainly in formal writing. For example: “Il fallait que je économisasse de l’argent chaque mois.” — “It was important that I save money every month.”
Imperative (affirmative)
The imperative (affirmative) is used for direct commands and instructions. For example: “Économise de l’argent chaque mois !” — “Save money every month!”
Imperative (negative)
The imperative (negative) is used for prohibitions and negative commands. For example: “Économise de l’argent chaque mois !” — “Do not save money every month!”
Gerund and past participle
The gerund is en économisant — “while saving” — used after en to say how something happens. The past participle is économisé, used with avoir for the perfect tenses, as in ai économisé.
Example sentences
Ten natural sentences with économiser, covering different tenses and persons. Say each one aloud, then cover the French and try to produce it from the English.
- “J'économise de l’argent chaque mois.” — “I save money every month.”
- “Tu économises de l’argent chaque mois.” — “You save money every month.”
- “Il économisait de l’argent chaque mois.” — “He used to save money every month.”
- “Nous économiserons de l’argent chaque mois.” — “We will save money every month tomorrow.”
- “J'économiserais de l’argent chaque mois.” — “I would save money every month if I could.”
- “Tu as économisé de l’argent chaque mois.” — “You have saved money every month.”
- “Il avait économisé de l’argent chaque mois.” — “He had saved money every month before the party.”
- “Nous aurons économisé de l’argent chaque mois.” — “We will have saved money every month by tomorrow evening.”
- “Il faut que je économise de l’argent chaque mois.” — “It is important that I save money every month.”
- “Économise de l’argent chaque mois !” — “Save money every month!”
Common mistakes
1. Using the infinitive instead of a conjugated form
✗ Wrong: “Je économiser de l’argent chaque mois.”
✓ Right: “J'économise de l’argent chaque mois.”
The infinitive économiser never takes a subject. After je you need the conjugated present form économise.
2. Confusing économiser with dépenser
✗ Wrong: “J'économise trop d’argent en vacances.” (meant as “dépenser”)
✓ Right: “J'économise de l’argent chaque mois.”
économiser means “to save (money)”; dépenser means “to spend (money)”. Keep the two verbs apart by their meaning, not by their sound.
3. Using the wrong auxiliary for the passé composé
✗ Wrong: “Je suis économisé de l’argent chaque mois.”
✓ Right: “J'ai économisé de l’argent chaque mois.”
With économiser the passé composé is formed with avoir, not être: ai économisé.
4. Using the indicative after a subjunctive trigger
✗ Wrong: “Il faut que je économise de l’argent chaque mois.”
✓ Right: “Il faut que je économise de l’argent chaque mois.”
After il faut que French needs the subjunctive, so use économise here, not the indicative économise.
5. Using the present for a finished past event
✗ Wrong: “J'économise de l’argent chaque mois hier.”
✓ Right: “J'ai économisé de l’argent chaque mois hier.”
Yesterday’s finished event needs the passé composé (ai économisé), not the present.
Quiz: test yourself
What is the je form of économiser in the Present indicative?
- A) économisez
- B) économise
- C) économisons
- D) économises
What is the ils/elles form of économiser in the Present indicative?
- A) économisez
- B) économisons
- C) économisent
- D) économise
What is the il/elle form of économiser in the Passé simple?
- A) économisâmes
- B) économisâtes
- C) économisa
- D) économisas
What is the nous form of économiser in the Imperfect?
- A) économisais
- B) économisiez
- C) économisions
- D) économisaient
What is the tu form of économiser in the Future?
- A) économiserai
- B) économiseront
- C) économiserons
- D) économiseras
What is the je form of économiser in the Conditional?
- A) économiseraient
- B) économiseriez
- C) économiserions
- D) économiserais
What is the il/elle form of économiser in the Present perfect (passé composé)?
- A) avons économisé
- B) ai économisé
- C) avez économisé
- D) a économisé
What is the vous form of économiser in the Pluperfect (plus-que-parfait)?
- A) avais économisé
- B) avions économisé
- C) aviez économisé
- D) avaient économisé
What is the gerund of économiser?
- A) économise
- B) économiserai
- C) en économisant
- D) économisé
What is the past participle of économiser?
- A) économisais
- B) économisé
- C) en économisant
- D) économise
Answer key
- B) économise — the je form of économiser in the present indicative is économise.
- C) économisent — the ils/elles form of économiser in the present indicative is économisent.
- C) économisa — the il/elle form of économiser in the passé simple is économisa.
- C) économisions — the nous form of économiser in the imperfect is économisions.
- D) économiseras — the tu form of économiser in the future is économiseras.
- D) économiserais — the je form of économiser in the conditional is économiserais.
- D) a économisé — the il/elle form of économiser in the present perfect (passé composé) is a économisé.
- C) aviez économisé — the vous form of économiser in the pluperfect (plus-que-parfait) is aviez économisé.
- C) en économisant — the gerund of économiser is en économisant; it is used after en for actions in progress.
- B) économisé — the past participle of économiser is économisé; perfect tenses use avoir + économisé.
Frequently asked questions
What does économiser mean in English?
économiser means “to save (money)”. You use it in everyday situations like the examples on this page — for example, “J'économise de l’argent chaque mois.” (“I save money every month.”). It is a core everyday verb, so its present-tense forms are worth learning first.
Is économiser regular or irregular?
économiser is regular: its endings follow the standard -er pattern in every tense. The gerund is en économisant and the past participle is économisé.
What are the gerund and past participle of économiser?
The gerund is en économisant — use it after en for actions in progress. The past participle is économisé — use it with avoir for the perfect tenses, as in ai économisé.
What is the difference between économiser and dépenser?
économiser means “to save (money)”, while dépenser means “to spend (money)”. They are easy to mix up because they appear in similar situations, but their meanings are different. If you are unsure, check the full conjugation page for dépenser and compare the meanings in context.
How do I say “I save” in French?
Say “J'économise de l’argent chaque mois.” — “I save money every month.” The je form of the present is économise, and it is the form you will use most often.
How to learn économiser
Start with the present tense: économise, économises, économise, économisons, économisez, économisent. Say them in order every day for a week, then add the passé composé — ai économisé — and the imperfect — économisais. Next, learn the future (économiserai) and the conditional (économiserais), which share the same stem. Finally, tackle the subjunctive (économise) and the imperative (économise). Write one sentence of your own in each tense, using the examples above as models, and check every form against the tables. When you can produce all six persons of the present without looking, move on to the present-tense quiz.
Related pages
- économiser in the present tense — the full table and uses for this verb in the present tense.
- économiser examples and quiz — more example sentences and practice questions for this verb.
- French verbs — the full hub of French conjugation pages.
- French present tense guide — how this tense works for regular verbs.
- Depenser conjugation — another French verb to practise with.
- Mourir conjugation — another French verb to practise with.
- Spanish verbs — the full hub of Spanish conjugation pages.
- Verb Conjugator — practise économiser with the interactive tool.
- Verb Quiz — practise économiser with the interactive tool.
- Present Tense Conjugator — practise the present tense with the interactive tool.
- VerbFlow home — back to the start.