Écrire: Examples, Sentences and Quiz in French

Introduction

Écrire means “to write”, 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 écrire, 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 écrire, in different tenses and with different subjects. Read the French first, guess the meaning, then check the English.

  1. “J'écris une lettre à Marie tous les jours.” — “I write a letter to Marie every day.”
  2. “Tu écris un livre sur Paris tous les jours.” — “You write a book about Paris every day.”
  3. “J'ai écrit tous les jours dans mon journal cette semaine.” — “I have written every day in my journal this week.”
  4. “Il écrivait une lettre à Marie autrefois.” — “He used to write a letter to Marie in the past.”
  5. “Nous écrirons un livre sur Paris demain.” — “We will write a book about Paris tomorrow.”
  6. “Tu as écrit tous les jours dans mon journal cette semaine.” — “You have written every day in my journal this week.”
  7. “J'écrirais une lettre à Marie un jour.” — “I would write a letter to Marie one day.”
  8. “Il est important que il écrive un livre sur Paris.” — “It is important that he write a book about Paris.”
  9. “Nous avions écrit tous les jours dans mon journal avant la fête.” — “We had written every day in my journal before the party.”
  10. “Il écrira une lettre à Marie demain.” — “He will write a letter to Marie tomorrow.”
  11. “Ils écrivent un livre sur Paris tous les jours.” — “They write a book about Paris every day.”
  12. “Écris tous les jours dans mon journal !” — “Write every day in my journal!”

A short dialogue

Marie and Pierre are talking about a letter to Marie. Read the dialogue aloud, one voice per person, and notice how écrire changes with the tense and the subject. Every form of écrire below is taken from the verified tables.

Marie : Tu fais quoi, ce soir ? Pierre : “J'écris une lettre à Marie tous les jours.” — “I write a letter to Marie every day.” Marie : Et demain ? Pierre : “J'écrirai un livre sur Paris demain.” — “I will write a book about Paris tomorrow.” Marie : Tu as fait ça hier aussi ? Pierre : “J'ai écrit tous les jours dans mon journal cette semaine.” — “I have written every day in my journal this week.” Marie : Tu ferais ça un jour ? Pierre : “J'écrirais une lettre à Marie un jour.” — “I would write a letter to Marie 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.

Écrire in different tenses

The same verb does different jobs in different tenses. Here are the six uses of écrire that matter most, each with a sentence you can copy and adapt.

The present: habits and facts

In the present, écrire describes habits, facts and what is happening now. The je form is écris: “J'écris une lettre à Marie tous les jours.” — “I write a letter to Marie every day.”

The imperfect: the past as it used to be

In the imperfect, écrire describes the past as it used to be — background, habit, an action in progress. The il form is écrivait: “Il écrivait un livre sur Paris autrefois.” — “He used to write a book about Paris in the past.”

The passé composé: finished actions

In the passé composé, écrire reports one finished action, built with avoir plus the participle écrit. The je form is ai écrit: “J'ai écrit tous les jours dans mon journal cette semaine.” — “I have written every day in my journal this week.”

The future: what will happen

In the future, écrire talks about what will happen. The nous form is écrirons: “Nous écrirons une lettre à Marie demain.” — “We will write a letter to Marie tomorrow.”

The conditional: what would happen

In the conditional, écrire talks about what would happen. The tu form is écrirais: “Tu écrirais un livre sur Paris un jour.” — “You would write a book about Paris one day.”

The subjunctive: wishes and doubts

In the subjunctive, écrire appears after triggers such as il est important que. The form is écrive, and the sentence keeps the same complement as the other tenses: “Il est important que j'écrive tous les jours dans mon journal.” — “It is important that I write every day in my journal.”

Common mistakes

Using the infinitive instead of a conjugated form

✗ Wrong: “Je écrire une lettre à Marie.”

✓ Right: “Je écris une lettre à Marie.”

The infinitive écrire never takes a subject. After je you need the conjugated form écris.

Using the wrong person’s form

✗ Wrong: “Tu écris une lettre à Marie.”

✓ Right: “Tu écris une lettre à Marie.”

écris is the je form. With tu you need écris. Check the subject before you choose the form.

Using the present for a finished past action

✗ Wrong: “Je écris une lettre à Marie hier.”

✓ Right: “Je ai écrit une lettre à Marie hier.”

The time word hier points to the past, so a finished action needs the passé composé ai écrit, not the present.

Using the indicative after a subjunctive trigger

✗ Wrong: “Il est important que tu écris un livre sur Paris.”

✓ Right: “Il est important que tu écrives un livre sur Paris.”

After il est important que French needs the subjunctive: écrives, not the indicative écris.

Forgetting the auxiliary in the passé composé

✗ Wrong: “Je écrit une lettre à Marie.”

✓ Right: “Je ai écrit une lettre à Marie.”

The passé composé of écrire needs the auxiliary avoir plus the participle écrit: the full je form is ai écrit.

Quiz: test yourself

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

  1. What is the je form of écrire in the Present indicative?

    • A) écrivons
    • B) écrivez
    • C) écris
    • D) écrit

  2. What is the tu form of écrire in the Present indicative?

    • A) écrivons
    • B) écrivez
    • C) écris
    • D) écrit

  3. What is the il/elle form of écrire in the Present perfect (passé composé)?

    • A) a écrit
    • B) ai écrit
    • C) as écrit
    • D) avons écrit

  4. What is the nous form of écrire in the Imperfect?

    • A) écrivait
    • B) écriviez
    • C) écrivions
    • D) écrivais

  5. What is the tu form of écrire in the Future?

    • A) écrirai
    • B) écrira
    • C) écrirons
    • D) écriras

  6. What is the je form of écrire in the Conditional?

    • A) écririons
    • B) écririez
    • C) écrirais
    • D) écrirait

  7. What is the il/elle form of écrire in the Present subjunctive?

    • A) écrivions
    • B) écriviez
    • C) écrive
    • D) écrives

  8. What is the je form of écrire in the Pluperfect (plus-que-parfait)?

    • A) aviez écrit
    • B) avais écrit
    • C) avait écrit
    • D) avions écrit

  9. What is the gerund of écrire?

    • A) en comprenant
    • B) en écrivant
    • C) en lisant
    • D) en tombant

  10. What does écrire mean in English?

  • A) to fall
  • B) to understand
  • C) to write
  • D) to read

Answer key

  1. C) écris — the je form of écrire in the Present indicative is écris. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
  2. C) écris — the tu form of écrire in the Present indicative is écris. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
  3. A) a écrit — the il/elle form of écrire in the Present perfect (passé composé) is a écrit. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
  4. C) écrivions — the nous form of écrire in the Imperfect is écrivions. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
  5. D) écriras — the tu form of écrire in the Future is écriras. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
  6. C) écrirais — the je form of écrire in the Conditional is écrirais. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
  7. C) écrive — the il/elle form of écrire in the Present subjunctive is écrive. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
  8. B) avais écrit — the je form of écrire in the Pluperfect (plus-que-parfait) is avais écrit. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
  9. B) en écrivant — the gerund of écrire is en écrivant. The other options are the gerunds of neighbouring verbs.
  10. C) to write — écrire means “to write” in English. The other options are the meanings of neighbouring verbs.

Frequently asked questions

What does écrire mean in English?

écrire means “to write”. It is a core everyday verb, so its present-tense forms are worth learning first.

Is écrire regular or irregular?

écrire is irregular in these tenses: present, passe-simple, present-subjunctive, imperative-affirmative, imperative-negative. The gerund is écrivant and the past participle is écrit.

How do I practise écrire every day?

Say one sentence with écrire 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, “J'écris une lettre à Marie tous les jours.”, “J'ai écrit une lettre à Marie cette semaine.” and “J'écrirai une lettre à Marie 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 écrire, so no pronunciation is given rather than an invented one.

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