Expliquer Conjugation in French
expliquer means “to explain” in English, and it is a verb French learners meet early and use often. This page gives you the complete conjugation of expliquer — 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'explique la leçon à mes élèves.” — “I explain the lesson to my pupils.” 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 expliquer 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: expliquer
- English: to explain
- Verb type: Regular -er verb
- Irregular in: — (regular in every tense)
- Gerund: en expliquant
- Past participle: expliqué
- 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 expliquer, so no pronunciation is given rather than an invented one.
Full conjugation tables
Every form below comes from VerbFlow’s verified conjugation tables for expliquer. 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 | explique |
| tu | expliques |
| il/elle | explique |
| nous | expliquons |
| vous | expliquez |
| ils/elles | expliquent |
Passé simple
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| je | expliquai |
| tu | expliquas |
| il/elle | expliqua |
| nous | expliquâmes |
| vous | expliquâtes |
| ils/elles | expliquèrent |
Imperfect
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| je | expliquais |
| tu | expliquais |
| il/elle | expliquait |
| nous | expliquions |
| vous | expliquiez |
| ils/elles | expliquaient |
Future
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| je | expliquerai |
| tu | expliqueras |
| il/elle | expliquera |
| nous | expliquerons |
| vous | expliquerez |
| ils/elles | expliqueront |
Conditional
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| je | expliquerais |
| tu | expliquerais |
| il/elle | expliquerait |
| nous | expliquerions |
| vous | expliqueriez |
| ils/elles | expliqueraient |
Present perfect (passé composé)
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| je | ai expliqué |
| tu | as expliqué |
| il/elle | a expliqué |
| nous | avons expliqué |
| vous | avez expliqué |
| ils/elles | ont expliqué |
Pluperfect (plus-que-parfait)
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| je | avais expliqué |
| tu | avais expliqué |
| il/elle | avait expliqué |
| nous | avions expliqué |
| vous | aviez expliqué |
| ils/elles | avaient expliqué |
Future perfect
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| je | aurai expliqué |
| tu | auras expliqué |
| il/elle | aura expliqué |
| nous | aurons expliqué |
| vous | aurez expliqué |
| ils/elles | auront expliqué |
Conditional perfect
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| je | aurais expliqué |
| tu | aurais expliqué |
| il/elle | aurait expliqué |
| nous | aurions expliqué |
| vous | auriez expliqué |
| ils/elles | auraient expliqué |
Present subjunctive
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| je | explique |
| tu | expliques |
| il/elle | explique |
| nous | expliquions |
| vous | expliquiez |
| ils/elles | expliquent |
Imperfect subjunctive
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| je | expliquasse |
| tu | expliquasses |
| il/elle | expliquât |
| nous | expliquassions |
| vous | expliquassiez |
| ils/elles | expliquassent |
Imperative (affirmative)
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| tu | explique |
| nous | expliquons |
| vous | expliquez |
Imperative (negative)
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| tu | explique |
| nous | expliquons |
| vous | expliquez |
Gerund and past participle
| Form | French |
|---|---|
| Gerund | en expliquant |
| Past participle | expliqué |
When to use each tense
Present indicative
The present indicative is used for habits, facts and things happening now. For example: “J'explique la leçon à mes élèves.” — “I explain the lesson to my pupils.”
Passé simple
The passé simple is used for completed actions in the past, mainly in written and literary French. For example: “Tu expliquas la leçon à mes élèves.” — “You explained the lesson to my pupils one day.”
Imperfect
The imperfect is used for ongoing or habitual actions in the past, and background description. For example: “Il expliquait la leçon à mes élèves quand j’étais jeune.” — “He used to explain the lesson to my pupils.”
Future
The future is used for what will happen, predictions and promises. For example: “Nous expliquerons la leçon à mes élèves.” — “We will explain the lesson to my pupils tomorrow.”
Conditional
The conditional is used for what would happen, polite requests and hypothetical situations. For example: “Vous expliqueriez la leçon à mes élèves.” — “You would explain the lesson to my pupils if you could.”
Present perfect (passé composé)
The present perfect (passé composé) is used for recent past actions and completed events. With expliquer it is formed with avoir + the past participle expliqué. For example: “Ils ont expliqué la leçon à mes élèves hier.” — “They have explained the lesson to my pupils.”
Pluperfect (plus-que-parfait)
The pluperfect (plus-que-parfait) is used for an action completed before another past action. For example: “J'avais expliqué la leçon à mes élèves avant la fête.” — “I had explained the lesson to my pupils 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 expliqué la leçon à mes élèves.” — “You will have explained the lesson to my pupils by tomorrow evening.”
Conditional perfect
The conditional perfect is used for what would have happened in a different past. For example: “Il aurait expliqué la leçon à mes élèves.” — “He would have explained the lesson to my pupils 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 explique la leçon à mes élèves.” — “It is important that I explain the lesson to my pupils.”
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 expliquasse la leçon à mes élèves.” — “It was important that I explain the lesson to my pupils.”
Imperative (affirmative)
The imperative (affirmative) is used for direct commands and instructions. For example: “Explique la leçon à mes élèves !” — “Explain the lesson to my pupils!”
Imperative (negative)
The imperative (negative) is used for prohibitions and negative commands. For example: “Explique la leçon à mes élèves !” — “Do not explain the lesson to my pupils!”
Gerund and past participle
The gerund is en expliquant — “while explaining” — used after en to say how something happens. The past participle is expliqué, used with avoir for the perfect tenses, as in ai expliqué.
Example sentences
Ten natural sentences with expliquer, covering different tenses and persons. Say each one aloud, then cover the French and try to produce it from the English.
- “J'explique la leçon à mes élèves.” — “I explain the lesson to my pupils.”
- “Tu expliques la leçon à mes élèves.” — “You explain the lesson to my pupils.”
- “Il expliquait la leçon à mes élèves.” — “He used to explain the lesson to my pupils.”
- “Nous expliquerons la leçon à mes élèves.” — “We will explain the lesson to my pupils tomorrow.”
- “J'expliquerais la leçon à mes élèves.” — “I would explain the lesson to my pupils if I could.”
- “Tu as expliqué la leçon à mes élèves.” — “You have explained the lesson to my pupils.”
- “Il avait expliqué la leçon à mes élèves.” — “He had explained the lesson to my pupils before the party.”
- “Nous aurons expliqué la leçon à mes élèves.” — “We will have explained the lesson to my pupils by tomorrow evening.”
- “Il faut que je explique la leçon à mes élèves.” — “It is important that I explain the lesson to my pupils.”
- “Explique la leçon à mes élèves !” — “Explain the lesson to my pupils!”
Common mistakes
1. Using the infinitive instead of a conjugated form
✗ Wrong: “Je expliquer la leçon à mes élèves.”
✓ Right: “J'explique la leçon à mes élèves.”
The infinitive expliquer never takes a subject. After je you need the conjugated present form explique.
2. Confusing expliquer with raconter
✗ Wrong: “J'explique une histoire à mes enfants.” (meant as “raconter”)
✓ Right: “J'explique la leçon à mes élèves.”
expliquer means “to explain”; raconter means “to tell (a story)”. Keep the two verbs apart by their meaning, not by their sound.
3. Using the wrong auxiliary for the passé composé
✗ Wrong: “Je suis expliqué la leçon à mes élèves.”
✓ Right: “J'ai expliqué la leçon à mes élèves.”
With expliquer the passé composé is formed with avoir, not être: ai expliqué.
4. Using the indicative after a subjunctive trigger
✗ Wrong: “Il faut que je explique la leçon à mes élèves.”
✓ Right: “Il faut que je explique la leçon à mes élèves.”
After il faut que French needs the subjunctive, so use explique here, not the indicative explique.
5. Using the present for a finished past event
✗ Wrong: “J'explique la leçon à mes élèves hier.”
✓ Right: “J'ai expliqué la leçon à mes élèves hier.”
Yesterday’s finished event needs the passé composé (ai expliqué), not the present.
Quiz: test yourself
What is the je form of expliquer in the Present indicative?
- A) expliques
- B) explique
- C) expliquons
- D) expliquent
What is the ils/elles form of expliquer in the Present indicative?
- A) expliques
- B) expliquez
- C) expliquent
- D) expliquons
What is the il/elle form of expliquer in the Passé simple?
- A) expliquâtes
- B) expliquèrent
- C) expliquas
- D) expliqua
What is the nous form of expliquer in the Imperfect?
- A) expliquiez
- B) expliquais
- C) expliquions
- D) expliquaient
What is the tu form of expliquer in the Future?
- A) expliqueras
- B) expliqueront
- C) expliquerai
- D) expliquerons
What is the je form of expliquer in the Conditional?
- A) expliqueraient
- B) expliquerais
- C) expliquerait
- D) expliquerions
What is the il/elle form of expliquer in the Present perfect (passé composé)?
- A) avons expliqué
- B) avez expliqué
- C) a expliqué
- D) ont expliqué
What is the vous form of expliquer in the Pluperfect (plus-que-parfait)?
- A) avait expliqué
- B) avaient expliqué
- C) avais expliqué
- D) aviez expliqué
What is the gerund of expliquer?
- A) expliquerai
- B) explique
- C) en expliquant
- D) expliqué
What is the past participle of expliquer?
- A) explique
- B) en expliquant
- C) expliqué
- D) expliquais
Answer key
- B) explique — the je form of expliquer in the present indicative is explique.
- C) expliquent — the ils/elles form of expliquer in the present indicative is expliquent.
- D) expliqua — the il/elle form of expliquer in the passé simple is expliqua.
- C) expliquions — the nous form of expliquer in the imperfect is expliquions.
- A) expliqueras — the tu form of expliquer in the future is expliqueras.
- B) expliquerais — the je form of expliquer in the conditional is expliquerais.
- C) a expliqué — the il/elle form of expliquer in the present perfect (passé composé) is a expliqué.
- D) aviez expliqué — the vous form of expliquer in the pluperfect (plus-que-parfait) is aviez expliqué.
- C) en expliquant — the gerund of expliquer is en expliquant; it is used after en for actions in progress.
- C) expliqué — the past participle of expliquer is expliqué; perfect tenses use avoir + expliqué.
Frequently asked questions
What does expliquer mean in English?
expliquer means “to explain”. You use it in everyday situations like the examples on this page — for example, “J'explique la leçon à mes élèves.” (“I explain the lesson to my pupils.”). It is a core everyday verb, so its present-tense forms are worth learning first.
Is expliquer regular or irregular?
expliquer is regular: its endings follow the standard -er pattern in every tense. The gerund is en expliquant and the past participle is expliqué.
What are the gerund and past participle of expliquer?
The gerund is en expliquant — use it after en for actions in progress. The past participle is expliqué — use it with avoir for the perfect tenses, as in ai expliqué.
What is the difference between expliquer and raconter?
expliquer means “to explain”, while raconter means “to tell (a story)”. 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 raconter and compare the meanings in context.
How do I say “I explain” in French?
Say “J'explique la leçon à mes élèves.” — “I explain the lesson to my pupils.” The je form of the present is explique, and it is the form you will use most often.
How to learn expliquer
Start with the present tense: explique, expliques, explique, expliquons, expliquez, expliquent. Say them in order every day for a week, then add the passé composé — ai expliqué — and the imperfect — expliquais. Next, learn the future (expliquerai) and the conditional (expliquerais), which share the same stem. Finally, tackle the subjunctive (explique) and the imperative (explique). 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
- expliquer in the present tense — the full table and uses for this verb in the present tense.
- expliquer 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.
- Raconter conjugation — another French verb to practise with.
- Spanish verbs — the full hub of Spanish conjugation pages.
- Verb Conjugator — practise expliquer with the interactive tool.
- Verb Quiz — practise expliquer with the interactive tool.
- Present Tense Conjugator — practise the present tense with the interactive tool.
- VerbFlow home — back to the start.