Emprunter Conjugation in French

emprunter means “borrow” in English, and it is a verb French learners meet early — it sits in VerbFlow’s frequency list for French. You use it for borrowing from the library, for borrowing a bike, and for asking for a loan. 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 emprunter — 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'emprunte un livre.” — “I borrow a book.”

Quick facts

  • Infinitive: emprunter
  • English: borrow
  • Verb type: Regular
  • Irregular in: none — it is regular in every tense
  • Gerund: en empruntant
  • Past participle: emprunté
  • 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 emprunter, so no pronunciation is given rather than an invented one.

Full conjugation tables

Every form below comes from VerbFlow’s verified conjugation tables for emprunter. 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 emprunte
tu empruntes
il/elle emprunte
nous empruntons
vous empruntez
ils/elles empruntent

Passé simple

Person Form
je empruntai
tu empruntas
il/elle emprunta
nous empruntâmes
vous empruntâtes
ils/elles empruntèrent

Imperfect

Person Form
je empruntais
tu empruntais
il/elle empruntait
nous empruntions
vous empruntiez
ils/elles empruntaient

Future

Person Form
je emprunterai
tu emprunteras
il/elle empruntera
nous emprunterons
vous emprunterez
ils/elles emprunteront

Conditional

Person Form
je emprunterais
tu emprunterais
il/elle emprunterait
nous emprunterions
vous emprunteriez
ils/elles emprunteraient

Present subjunctive

Person Form
je emprunte
tu empruntes
il/elle emprunte
nous empruntions
vous empruntiez
ils/elles empruntent

Imperfect subjunctive

Person Form
je empruntasse
tu empruntasses
il/elle empruntât
nous empruntassions
vous empruntassiez
ils/elles empruntassent

Present perfect

Person Form
je ai emprunté
tu as emprunté
il/elle a emprunté
nous avons emprunté
vous avez emprunté
ils/elles ont emprunté

Pluperfect (past perfect)

Person Form
je avais emprunté
tu avais emprunté
il/elle avait emprunté
nous avions emprunté
vous aviez emprunté
ils/elles avaient emprunté

Future perfect

Person Form
je aurai emprunté
tu auras emprunté
il/elle aura emprunté
nous aurons emprunté
vous aurez emprunté
ils/elles auront emprunté

Conditional perfect

Person Form
je aurais emprunté
tu aurais emprunté
il/elle aurait emprunté
nous aurions emprunté
vous auriez emprunté
ils/elles auraient emprunté

Imperative (affirmative)

Person Form
tu emprunte
nous empruntons
vous empruntez

Imperative (negative)

Person Form
tu emprunte
nous empruntons
vous empruntez

Gerund and past participle

Form French
Gerund en empruntant
Past participle emprunté

When to use each tense

Present indicative

The present indicative is used for habits, facts and things happening now. For example: “J'emprunte de l'argent.” — “I borrow some money.”

Passé simple

The passé simple is used for completed actions in the past, mainly in written and literary French. For example: “J'empruntai de l'argent hier.” — “I borrowed some money yesterday.”

Imperfect

The imperfect is used for ongoing or habitual actions in the past, and background description. For example: “J'empruntais de l'argent avant.” — “I used to borrow some money before.”

Future

The future is used for what will happen, predictions and plans. For example: “J'emprunterai de l'argent demain.” — “I will borrow some money tomorrow.”

Conditional

The conditional is used for what would happen, polite requests and hypothetical situations. For example: “J'emprunterais de l'argent un jour.” — “I would borrow some money one day.”

Present subjunctive

The present subjunctive is used for wishes, doubts, emotions and opinions after que. For example: “Bien que j'emprunte de l'argent” — “Although I borrow some money.”

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 j'empruntasse de l'argent” — “Although I borrow some money.”

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 emprunté de l'argent cette semaine.” — “I have borrowed some money this week.”

Pluperfect (past perfect)

The pluperfect (past perfect) is used for an action completed before another past action. For example: “J'avais emprunté de l'argent avant la fête.” — “I had borrowed some money 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 emprunté de l'argent pour demain.” — “I will have borrowed some money by tomorrow.”

Conditional perfect

The conditional perfect is used for what would have happened in a different past. For example: “J'aurais emprunté de l'argent hier.” — “I would have borrowed some money yesterday.”

Imperative (affirmative)

The imperative (affirmative) is used for direct commands and instructions. For example: “emprunte de l'argent !” — “Borrow some money!”

Imperative (negative)

The imperative (negative) is used for prohibitions and negative commands. For example: “Ne emprunte pas de l'argent !” — “Don't borrow some money!”

Gerund and past participle

The gerund en empruntant is used after en for an action in progress, and the past participle emprunté builds the perfect tenses with avoir. For example: “J'ai emprunté la voiture cette semaine.” — “I have borrowed the car this week.”

Example sentences

Ten natural sentences with emprunter, covering different tenses and persons. Say each one aloud, then cover the French and try to produce it from the English.

  1. “J'emprunte un livre.” — “I borrow a book.”
  2. “Tu empruntas de l'argent hier.” — “You borrowed some money yesterday.”
  3. “Il empruntait la voiture avant.” — “He used to borrow the car before.”
  4. “J'emprunterai un vélo demain.” — “I will borrow a bike tomorrow.”
  5. “Tu emprunterais un livre un jour.” — “You would borrow a book one day.”
  6. “Il a emprunté de l'argent cette semaine.” — “He has borrowed some money this week.”
  7. “J'avais emprunté la voiture avant la fête.” — “I had borrowed the car before the party.”
  8. “Tu auras emprunté un vélo pour demain.” — “You will have borrowed a bike by tomorrow.”
  9. “Bien que il emprunte un livre” — “Although he borrows a book.”
  10. “emprunte de l'argent !” — “Borrow some money!”

Common mistakes

1. Using the infinitive instead of a conjugated form

✗ Wrong: “Je emprunter un livre.”

✓ Right: “Je emprunte un livre.”

The infinitive emprunter never takes a subject. After je you need the conjugated present form emprunte.

2. Using the wrong person

✗ Wrong: “Je empruntons de l'argent.”

✓ Right: “Je emprunte de l'argent.”

empruntons is the nous form. With je the present form is emprunte — check the person in the table before you speak.

3. Using the present for a finished past action

✗ Wrong: “Hier, je emprunte un livre.”

✓ Right: “Hier, j'ai emprunté un livre.”

The present emprunte describes now. For something finished yesterday, use the passé composé ai emprunté.

4. Using the passé simple in everyday speech

✗ Wrong: “Hier, je empruntai la voiture.” (in casual conversation)

✓ Right: “Hier, j'ai emprunté la voiture.”

The passé simple empruntai belongs in novels and formal writing. In everyday speech, say the passé composé ai emprunté.

5. Using the indicative after a subjunctive trigger

✗ Wrong: “Bien que je emprunte un livre.”

✓ Right: “Bien que je emprunte un livre.”

After bien que French needs the subjunctive, so use emprunte here, not the indicative emprunte.

6. Using the imperfect for a single finished action

✗ Wrong: “Je empruntais un vélo avant.” (said of one finished moment)

✓ Right: “J'ai emprunté un vélo avant.”

The imperfect empruntais describes something ongoing or repeated in the past. For one finished action, use the passé composé ai emprunté.

Quiz: test yourself

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

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

    • A) empruntons
    • B) empruntent
    • C) emprunte
    • D) empruntez

  2. What is the il/elle form of emprunter in the Passé simple?

    • A) empruntâtes
    • B) empruntas
    • C) empruntai
    • D) emprunta

  3. What is the nous form of emprunter in the Imperfect?

    • A) empruntais
    • B) empruntiez
    • C) empruntaient
    • D) empruntions

  4. What is the tu form of emprunter in the Future?

    • A) emprunteras
    • B) emprunterons
    • C) emprunterai
    • D) emprunterez

  5. What is the je form of emprunter in the Conditional?

    • A) emprunteriez
    • B) emprunterais
    • C) emprunterions
    • D) emprunterait

  6. What is the il/elle form of emprunter in the Present subjunctive?

    • A) emprunte
    • B) empruntes
    • C) empruntiez
    • D) empruntent

  7. What is the je form of emprunter in the Imperfect subjunctive?

    • A) empruntassent
    • B) empruntasse
    • C) empruntât
    • D) empruntasses

  8. What is the gerund of emprunter?

    • A) buvant
    • B) dormant
    • C) empruntant

  9. What is the past participle of emprunter?

    • A) emprunté
    • B) dormi
    • C) bu

  10. What does emprunter mean in English?

  • A) sleep
  • B) open
  • C) drink
  • D) borrow

Answer key

  1. C) emprunte — The je form of emprunter in the present indicative is emprunte.
  2. D) emprunta — The il/elle form of emprunter in the passé simple is emprunta.
  3. D) empruntions — The nous form of emprunter in the imperfect is empruntions.
  4. A) emprunteras — The tu form of emprunter in the future is emprunteras.
  5. B) emprunterais — The je form of emprunter in the conditional is emprunterais.
  6. A) emprunte — The il/elle form of emprunter in the present subjunctive is emprunte.
  7. B) empruntasse — The je form of emprunter in the imperfect subjunctive is empruntasse.
  8. C) empruntant — The gerund of emprunter is en empruntant; it is used after en for actions in progress.
  9. A) emprunté — The past participle of emprunter is emprunté; perfect tenses use avoir + emprunté.
  10. D) borrow — emprunter means “borrow” in English.

Frequently asked questions

What does emprunter mean in English?

emprunter means “borrow”. You use it for borrowing from the library, for borrowing a bike, and for asking for a loan. It is a core everyday verb, so its present-tense forms are worth learning first.

Is emprunter regular or irregular?

emprunter is regular, and it is irregular in these tenses: none — it is regular in every tense. The gerund is en empruntant and the past participle is emprunté.

What are the gerund and past participle of emprunter?

The gerund is en empruntant — use it after en for actions in progress. The past participle is emprunté — use it with avoir for the perfect tenses, as in ai emprunté.

How do I say “I borrow” in French?

Say “J'emprunte un livre.” — “I borrow a book.” The je form of the present is emprunte, and it is the form you will use most often.

What is the difference between emprunter and prêter?

emprunter means “borrow” while prêter means “lend” — they describe different actions, so they are not interchangeable. Compare the full table for prêter and check the meaning in context before you choose.

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