Espérer Conjugation in French
espérer means “to hope” in English, and it is a verb French learners meet early and use often. This page gives you the complete conjugation of espérer — 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'espère une bonne nouvelle aujourd’hui.” — “I hope for good news today.” 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 espérer 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: espérer
- English: to hope
- Verb type: Irregular -er verb
- Irregular in: present, present-subjunctive, imperative-affirmative, imperative-negative
- Gerund: en espérant
- Past participle: espéré
- 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 espérer, so no pronunciation is given rather than an invented one.
It is a spelling-changing verb: the é of the stem becomes è in the singular and the third-person plural of the present — espère, espères, espère, espèrent — while nous and vous keep é: espérons, espérez. The same accent change appears in the present subjunctive and the imperative, which are built on the present stem.
Full conjugation tables
Every form below comes from VerbFlow’s verified conjugation tables for espérer. 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 | espère |
| tu | espères |
| il/elle | espère |
| nous | espérons |
| vous | espérez |
| ils/elles | espèrent |
Passé simple
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| je | espérai |
| tu | espéras |
| il/elle | espéra |
| nous | espérâmes |
| vous | espérâtes |
| ils/elles | espérèrent |
Imperfect
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| je | espérais |
| tu | espérais |
| il/elle | espérait |
| nous | espérions |
| vous | espériez |
| ils/elles | espéraient |
Future
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| je | espérerai |
| tu | espéreras |
| il/elle | espérera |
| nous | espérerons |
| vous | espérerez |
| ils/elles | espéreront |
Conditional
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| je | espérerais |
| tu | espérerais |
| il/elle | espérerait |
| nous | espérerions |
| vous | espéreriez |
| ils/elles | espéreraient |
Present perfect (passé composé)
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| je | ai espéré |
| tu | as espéré |
| il/elle | a espéré |
| nous | avons espéré |
| vous | avez espéré |
| ils/elles | ont espéré |
Pluperfect (plus-que-parfait)
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| je | avais espéré |
| tu | avais espéré |
| il/elle | avait espéré |
| nous | avions espéré |
| vous | aviez espéré |
| ils/elles | avaient espéré |
Future perfect
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| je | aurai espéré |
| tu | auras espéré |
| il/elle | aura espéré |
| nous | aurons espéré |
| vous | aurez espéré |
| ils/elles | auront espéré |
Conditional perfect
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| je | aurais espéré |
| tu | aurais espéré |
| il/elle | aurait espéré |
| nous | aurions espéré |
| vous | auriez espéré |
| ils/elles | auraient espéré |
Present subjunctive
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| je | espère |
| tu | espères |
| il/elle | espère |
| nous | espérions |
| vous | espériez |
| ils/elles | espèrent |
Imperfect subjunctive
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| je | espérasse |
| tu | espérasses |
| il/elle | espérât |
| nous | espérassions |
| vous | espérassiez |
| ils/elles | espérassent |
Imperative (affirmative)
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| tu | espère |
| nous | espérons |
| vous | espérez |
Imperative (negative)
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| tu | espère |
| nous | espérons |
| vous | espérez |
Gerund and past participle
| Form | French |
|---|---|
| Gerund | en espérant |
| Past participle | espéré |
When to use each tense
Present indicative
The present indicative is used for habits, facts and things happening now. With espérer this tense is irregular, so the forms do not follow the regular pattern — learn them as a set rather than guessing from the infinitive. For example: “J'espère une bonne nouvelle aujourd’hui.” — “I hope for good news today.”
Passé simple
The passé simple is used for completed actions in the past, mainly in written and literary French. For example: “Tu espéras une bonne nouvelle aujourd’hui.” — “You hoped for good news today one day.”
Imperfect
The imperfect is used for ongoing or habitual actions in the past, and background description. For example: “Il espérait une bonne nouvelle aujourd’hui quand j’étais jeune.” — “He used to hope for good news today.”
Future
The future is used for what will happen, predictions and promises. For example: “Nous espérerons une bonne nouvelle aujourd’hui.” — “We will hope for good news today tomorrow.”
Conditional
The conditional is used for what would happen, polite requests and hypothetical situations. For example: “Vous espéreriez une bonne nouvelle aujourd’hui.” — “You would hope for good news today if you could.”
Present perfect (passé composé)
The present perfect (passé composé) is used for recent past actions and completed events. With espérer it is formed with avoir + the past participle espéré. For example: “Ils ont espéré une bonne nouvelle aujourd’hui hier.” — “They have hoped for good news today.”
Pluperfect (plus-que-parfait)
The pluperfect (plus-que-parfait) is used for an action completed before another past action. For example: “J'avais espéré une bonne nouvelle aujourd’hui avant la fête.” — “I had hoped for good news today 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 espéré une bonne nouvelle aujourd’hui.” — “You will have hoped for good news today by tomorrow evening.”
Conditional perfect
The conditional perfect is used for what would have happened in a different past. For example: “Il aurait espéré une bonne nouvelle aujourd’hui.” — “He would have hoped for good news today if he had been able to.”
Present subjunctive
The present subjunctive is used for wishes, doubts, emotions and opinions after que. With espérer this tense is irregular, so the forms do not follow the regular pattern — learn them as a set rather than guessing from the infinitive. For example: “Il faut que je espère une bonne nouvelle aujourd’hui.” — “It is important that I hope for good news today.”
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 espérasse une bonne nouvelle aujourd’hui.” — “It was important that I hope for good news today.”
Imperative (affirmative)
The imperative (affirmative) is used for direct commands and instructions. With espérer this tense is irregular, so the forms do not follow the regular pattern — learn them as a set rather than guessing from the infinitive. For example: “Espère une bonne nouvelle aujourd’hui !” — “Hope for good news today!”
Imperative (negative)
The imperative (negative) is used for prohibitions and negative commands. With espérer this tense is irregular, so the forms do not follow the regular pattern — learn them as a set rather than guessing from the infinitive. For example: “Espère une bonne nouvelle aujourd’hui !” — “Do not hope for good news today!”
Gerund and past participle
The gerund is en espérant — “while hoping” — used after en to say how something happens. The past participle is espéré, used with avoir for the perfect tenses, as in ai espéré.
Example sentences
Ten natural sentences with espérer, covering different tenses and persons. Say each one aloud, then cover the French and try to produce it from the English.
- “J'espère une bonne nouvelle aujourd’hui.” — “I hope for good news today.”
- “Tu espères une bonne nouvelle aujourd’hui.” — “You hope for good news today.”
- “Il espérait une bonne nouvelle aujourd’hui.” — “He used to hope for good news today.”
- “Nous espérerons une bonne nouvelle aujourd’hui.” — “We will hope for good news today tomorrow.”
- “J'espérerais une bonne nouvelle aujourd’hui.” — “I would hope for good news today if I could.”
- “Tu as espéré une bonne nouvelle aujourd’hui.” — “You have hoped for good news today.”
- “Il avait espéré une bonne nouvelle aujourd’hui.” — “He had hoped for good news today before the party.”
- “Nous aurons espéré une bonne nouvelle aujourd’hui.” — “We will have hoped for good news today by tomorrow evening.”
- “Il faut que je espère une bonne nouvelle aujourd’hui.” — “It is important that I hope for good news today.”
- “Espère une bonne nouvelle aujourd’hui !” — “Hope for good news today!”
Common mistakes
1. Using the infinitive instead of a conjugated form
✗ Wrong: “Je espérer une bonne nouvelle aujourd’hui.”
✓ Right: “J'espère une bonne nouvelle aujourd’hui.”
The infinitive espérer never takes a subject. After je you need the conjugated present form espère.
2. Confusing espérer with désirer
✗ Wrong: “J'espère un café chaud.” (meant as “désirer”)
✓ Right: “J'espère une bonne nouvelle aujourd’hui.”
espérer means “to hope”; désirer means “to desire”. Keep the two verbs apart by their meaning, not by their sound.
3. Forgetting the grave accent
✗ Wrong: “espére”
✓ Right: “espère”
The accent on espère is part of the spelling: é becomes è in the singular and third-person plural of the present. Without it the form is wrong.
4. Using the indicative after a subjunctive trigger
✗ Wrong: “Il faut que je espère une bonne nouvelle aujourd’hui.”
✓ Right: “Il faut que je espère une bonne nouvelle aujourd’hui.”
After il faut que French needs the subjunctive, so use espère here, not the indicative espère.
5. Using the present for a finished past event
✗ Wrong: “J'espère une bonne nouvelle aujourd’hui hier.”
✓ Right: “J'ai espéré une bonne nouvelle aujourd’hui hier.”
Yesterday’s finished event needs the passé composé (ai espéré), not the present.
Quiz: test yourself
What is the je form of espérer in the Present indicative?
- A) espère
- B) espérez
- C) espères
- D) espérons
What is the ils/elles form of espérer in the Present indicative?
- A) espèrent
- B) espérez
- C) espère
- D) espérons
What is the il/elle form of espérer in the Passé simple?
- A) espéra
- B) espérai
- C) espéras
- D) espérâmes
What is the nous form of espérer in the Imperfect?
- A) espérions
- B) espérais
- C) espérait
- D) espéraient
What is the tu form of espérer in the Future?
- A) espérerons
- B) espéreras
- C) espérerai
- D) espéreront
What is the je form of espérer in the Conditional?
- A) espéreraient
- B) espérerait
- C) espérerions
- D) espérerais
What is the il/elle form of espérer in the Present perfect (passé composé)?
- A) avons espéré
- B) as espéré
- C) ai espéré
- D) a espéré
What is the vous form of espérer in the Pluperfect (plus-que-parfait)?
- A) avais espéré
- B) avait espéré
- C) avaient espéré
- D) aviez espéré
What is the gerund of espérer?
- A) espéré
- B) espérerai
- C) en espérant
- D) espère
What is the past participle of espérer?
- A) en espérant
- B) espéré
- C) espérais
- D) espère
Answer key
- A) espère — the je form of espérer in the present indicative is espère.
- A) espèrent — the ils/elles form of espérer in the present indicative is espèrent.
- A) espéra — the il/elle form of espérer in the passé simple is espéra.
- A) espérions — the nous form of espérer in the imperfect is espérions.
- B) espéreras — the tu form of espérer in the future is espéreras.
- D) espérerais — the je form of espérer in the conditional is espérerais.
- D) a espéré — the il/elle form of espérer in the present perfect (passé composé) is a espéré.
- D) aviez espéré — the vous form of espérer in the pluperfect (plus-que-parfait) is aviez espéré.
- C) en espérant — the gerund of espérer is en espérant; it is used after en for actions in progress.
- B) espéré — the past participle of espérer is espéré; perfect tenses use avoir + espéré.
Frequently asked questions
What does espérer mean in English?
espérer means “to hope”. You use it in everyday situations like the examples on this page — for example, “J'espère une bonne nouvelle aujourd’hui.” (“I hope for good news today.”). It is a core everyday verb, so its present-tense forms are worth learning first.
Is espérer regular or irregular?
espérer is irregular, and it is irregular in these tenses: present, present-subjunctive, imperative-affirmative, imperative-negative. The gerund is en espérant and the past participle is espéré.
What are the gerund and past participle of espérer?
The gerund is en espérant — use it after en for actions in progress. The past participle is espéré — use it with avoir for the perfect tenses, as in ai espéré.
What is the difference between espérer and désirer?
espérer means “to hope”, while désirer means “to desire”. 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 désirer and compare the meanings in context.
How do I say “I hope” in French?
Say “J'espère une bonne nouvelle aujourd’hui.” — “I hope for good news today.” The je form of the present is espère, and it is the form you will use most often.
How to learn espérer
Start with the present tense: espère, espères, espère, espérons, espérez, espèrent. Say them in order every day for a week, then add the passé composé — ai espéré — and the imperfect — espérais. Next, learn the future (espérerai) and the conditional (espérerais), which share the same stem. Finally, tackle the subjunctive (espère) and the imperative (espère). 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
- espérer in the present tense — the full table and uses for this verb in the present tense.
- espérer examples and quiz — more example sentences and practice questions for this verb.
- French verbs — the full hub of French conjugation pages.
- French irregular verbs — every common irregular French verb, grouped by pattern.
- Desirer conjugation — another French verb to practise with.
- Spanish verbs — the full hub of Spanish conjugation pages.
- Verb Conjugator — practise espérer with the interactive tool.
- Verb Quiz — practise espérer with the interactive tool.
- Present Tense Conjugator — practise the present tense with the interactive tool.
- VerbFlow home — back to the start.