emporter Present Tense Conjugation in French

The present of emporter — take away — is the form you need for habits, facts and things happening now. emporter is the verb for packing for a trip: it comes up whenever you talk about taking food away or leaving the house prepared. This page gives you the complete present table for emporter, how it is formed, when to use it, the mistakes learners make with it, and a quiz to check yourself. The first example shows it in action: “J'emporte un parapluie.” — “I take away an umbrella.”

Present conjugation of emporter

Every form in the table below comes from VerbFlow’s verified conjugation tables for emporter. emporter is regular (regular in the present), so watch out for the forms that break the pattern — they are the ones learners need to memorise.

Present — emporter

Person Form
je emporte
tu emportes
il/elle emporte
nous emportons
vous emportez
ils/elles emportent

The gerund of emporter is en emportant and the past participle is emporté. The participle matters here because the present is often confused with the other past tenses — keep them apart.

How the present of emporter is formed

The present of emporter is formed from its stem with the present endings. The six forms are emporte, emportes, emporte, emportons, emportez and emportent. Copy them from the table above exactly as written — do not guess a form from the infinitive.

A note on spelling: the forms in the table are the verified forms. If a form carries an accent, the accent is part of the spelling — for example emporte — so always write it exactly as shown.

The present is the tense to learn first for emporter: every other tense in the full table is built from patterns you meet here, and the present is the form you will use most often in conversation.

When to use the present of emporter

Habits and routines

Use the present for something you do regularly. For example: “J'emporte un parapluie.” — “I take away an umbrella.”

Facts and general truths

Use the present for facts that are true in general. For example: “Il emporte un sandwich.” — “He takes away a sandwich.”

Things happening now

Use the present for what is happening at this moment. For example: “Nous emportons de l'eau.” — “We take away some water.”

Near future plans

French often uses the present with a time word for a plan that is already fixed. For example: “J'emporte mon sac.” — “I take away my bag.”

Present vs passé composé: emporter finished, emporter in progress

The present and the passé composé are the two tenses learners confuse most with emporter. The present is for habits, facts and things happening now; the passé composé is for recent past actions and life experience; this is the everyday spoken past tense, the passé composé. Compare the pairs below — the present form comes from this page, the passé composé form from the full conjugation table.

  • Present: “J'emporte un parapluie.” — “I take away an umbrella.”

  • Passé composé: “J'ai emporté un parapluie cette semaine.” — “I have taken an umbrella this week.”

  • Present: “Il emporte un sandwich.” — “He takes away a sandwich.”

  • Passé composé: “Il a emporté un sandwich cette semaine.” — “He has taken a sandwich this week.”

  • Present: “Nous emportons de l'eau.” — “We take away some water.”

  • Passé composé: “Nous avons emporté de l'eau cette semaine.” — “We have taken some water this week.”

Example sentences: emporter in the present

Six sentences using only the present of emporter, with English translations. Read them aloud — saying the forms is the fastest way to fix them in memory.

  • “J'emporte un parapluie.” — “I take away an umbrella.”
  • “Tu emportes un sandwich.” — “You take away a sandwich.”
  • “Il emporte de l'eau.” — “He takes away some water.”
  • “Nous emportons mon sac.” — “We take away my bag.”
  • “Vous emportez un parapluie.” — “You take away an umbrella.”
  • “Ils emportent un sandwich.” — “They take away a sandwich.”

Common mistakes in the present of emporter

1. Using the wrong person

✗ Wrong: “Je emportons un parapluie.”

✓ Right: “Je emporte un parapluie.”

emportons is the nous form. With je the present form is emporte.

2. Using the infinitive instead of a conjugated form

✗ Wrong: “Je emporter un sandwich.”

✓ Right: “Je emporte un sandwich.”

The infinitive emporter never takes a subject. After je you need emporte.

3. Using the passé composé for a habit

✗ Wrong: “Tous les jours, j'ai emporté de l'eau.”

✓ Right: “Tous les jours, je emporte de l'eau.”

A habit needs the present emporte, not the passé composé.

4. Using the present where the imperfect belongs

✗ Wrong: “Avant, je emporte mon sac tous les jours.” (said of a repeated habit)

✓ Right: “Avant, je emportais mon sac tous les jours.”

For something you did regularly in the past, use the imperfect emportais.

5. Mixing up tu and je

✗ Wrong: “Tu emporte un parapluie.”

✓ Right: “Tu emportes un parapluie.”

With tu the present form is emportes, not emporte. Copy the form for the right person from the table.

Quiz: test yourself on the present of emporter

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

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

    • A) emportes
    • B) emportons
    • C) emportez
    • D) emporte

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

    • A) emportes
    • B) emporte
    • C) emportons
    • D) emportez

  3. What is the il/elle form of emporter in the Present indicative?

    • A) emportez
    • B) emportent
    • C) emporte
    • D) emportes

  4. What is the nous form of emporter in the Present indicative?

    • A) emporte
    • B) emportons
    • C) emportent
    • D) emportes

  5. What is the vous form of emporter in the Present indicative?

    • A) emporte
    • B) emportons
    • C) emportes
    • D) emportez

  6. What is the ils/elles form of emporter in the Present indicative?

    • A) emportons
    • B) emportez
    • C) emportent
    • D) emporte

  7. What is the je form of emporter in the Present perfect?

    • A) ai emporté
    • B) avons emporté
    • C) avez emporté
    • D) ont emporté

  8. What is the gerund of emporter?

    • A) dormant
    • B) buvant
    • C) emportant

  9. What is the past participle of emporter?

    • A) bu
    • B) dormi
    • C) emporté

  10. What does emporter mean in English?

  • A) sleep
  • B) drink
  • C) open
  • D) take away

Answer key

  1. D) emporte — The je form of emporter in the present indicative is emporte.
  2. A) emportes — The tu form of emporter in the present indicative is emportes.
  3. C) emporte — The il/elle form of emporter in the present indicative is emporte.
  4. B) emportons — The nous form of emporter in the present indicative is emportons.
  5. D) emportez — The vous form of emporter in the present indicative is emportez.
  6. C) emportent — The ils/elles form of emporter in the present indicative is emportent.
  7. A) ai emporté — The je form of emporter in the present perfect is ai emporté.
  8. C) emportant — The gerund of emporter is en emportant; it is used after en for actions in progress.
  9. C) emporté — The past participle of emporter is emporté; perfect tenses use avoir + emporté.
  10. D) take away — emporter means “take away” in English.

Frequently asked questions

When do I use the present of emporter?

Use it for habits, facts and things happening now. For emporter that covers packing for a trip, taking food away and leaving the house prepared.

Is the present of emporter regular?

emporter is regular. In the present it is regular — copy the forms from the table on this page.

What is the past participle of emporter?

The past participle is emporté. You need it for the passé composé, which uses avoir + emporté.

How do I say “I take away” in the present?

Say “J'emporte un parapluie.” — “I take away an umbrella.” The je form is emporte.

Pronunciation

Pronunciation is not listed on this page: the verified tables do not include IPA for emporter, so no pronunciation is given rather than an invented one.

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