Habiter Conjugation in French
habiter means “live in” in English, and it is a verb French learners meet early — it sits in VerbFlow’s frequency list for French. You use it for introducing yourself, for describing where you live, and for talking about a move. 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 habiter — 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: “Je habite à Paris.” — “I live in in Paris.”
Quick facts
- Infinitive: habiter
- English: live in
- Verb type: Regular
- Irregular in: none — it is regular in every tense
- Gerund: en habitant
- Past participle: habité
- 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 habiter, so no pronunciation is given rather than an invented one.
Full conjugation tables
Every form below comes from VerbFlow’s verified conjugation tables for habiter. 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 | habite |
| tu | habites |
| il/elle | habite |
| nous | habitons |
| vous | habitez |
| ils/elles | habitent |
Passé simple
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| je | habitai |
| tu | habitas |
| il/elle | habita |
| nous | habitâmes |
| vous | habitâtes |
| ils/elles | habitèrent |
Imperfect
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| je | habitais |
| tu | habitais |
| il/elle | habitait |
| nous | habitions |
| vous | habitiez |
| ils/elles | habitaient |
Future
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| je | habiterai |
| tu | habiteras |
| il/elle | habitera |
| nous | habiterons |
| vous | habiterez |
| ils/elles | habiteront |
Conditional
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| je | habiterais |
| tu | habiterais |
| il/elle | habiterait |
| nous | habiterions |
| vous | habiteriez |
| ils/elles | habiteraient |
Present subjunctive
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| je | habite |
| tu | habites |
| il/elle | habite |
| nous | habitions |
| vous | habitiez |
| ils/elles | habitent |
Imperfect subjunctive
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| je | habitasse |
| tu | habitasses |
| il/elle | habitât |
| nous | habitassions |
| vous | habitassiez |
| ils/elles | habitassent |
Present perfect
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| je | ai habité |
| tu | as habité |
| il/elle | a habité |
| nous | avons habité |
| vous | avez habité |
| ils/elles | ont habité |
Pluperfect (past perfect)
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| je | avais habité |
| tu | avais habité |
| il/elle | avait habité |
| nous | avions habité |
| vous | aviez habité |
| ils/elles | avaient habité |
Future perfect
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| je | aurai habité |
| tu | auras habité |
| il/elle | aura habité |
| nous | aurons habité |
| vous | aurez habité |
| ils/elles | auront habité |
Conditional perfect
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| je | aurais habité |
| tu | aurais habité |
| il/elle | aurait habité |
| nous | aurions habité |
| vous | auriez habité |
| ils/elles | auraient habité |
Imperative (affirmative)
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| tu | habite |
| nous | habitons |
| vous | habitez |
Imperative (negative)
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| tu | habite |
| nous | habitons |
| vous | habitez |
Gerund and past participle
| Form | French |
|---|---|
| Gerund | en habitant |
| Past participle | habité |
When to use each tense
Present indicative
The present indicative is used for habits, facts and things happening now. For example: “Je habite dans une maison.” — “I live in in a house.”
Passé simple
The passé simple is used for completed actions in the past, mainly in written and literary French. For example: “Je habitai dans une maison hier.” — “I lived in a house yesterday.”
Imperfect
The imperfect is used for ongoing or habitual actions in the past, and background description. For example: “Je habitais dans une maison avant.” — “I used to live in in a house before.”
Future
The future is used for what will happen, predictions and plans. For example: “Je habiterai dans une maison demain.” — “I will live in in a house tomorrow.”
Conditional
The conditional is used for what would happen, polite requests and hypothetical situations. For example: “Je habiterais dans une maison un jour.” — “I would live in in a house one day.”
Present subjunctive
The present subjunctive is used for wishes, doubts, emotions and opinions after que. For example: “Bien que je habite dans une maison” — “Although I live in in a house.”
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 je habitasse dans une maison” — “Although I live in in a house.”
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 habité dans une maison cette semaine.” — “I have lived in a house this week.”
Pluperfect (past perfect)
The pluperfect (past perfect) is used for an action completed before another past action. For example: “J'avais habité dans une maison avant la fête.” — “I had lived in a house 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 habité dans une maison pour demain.” — “I will have lived in a house by tomorrow.”
Conditional perfect
The conditional perfect is used for what would have happened in a different past. For example: “J'aurais habité dans une maison hier.” — “I would have lived in a house yesterday.”
Imperative (affirmative)
The imperative (affirmative) is used for direct commands and instructions. For example: “habite dans une maison !” — “Live in in a house!”
Imperative (negative)
The imperative (negative) is used for prohibitions and negative commands. For example: “Ne habite pas dans une maison !” — “Don't live in in a house!”
Gerund and past participle
The gerund en habitant is used after en for an action in progress, and the past participle habité builds the perfect tenses with avoir. For example: “J'ai habité près de la gare cette semaine.” — “I have lived near the station this week.”
Example sentences
Ten natural sentences with habiter, covering different tenses and persons. Say each one aloud, then cover the French and try to produce it from the English.
- “Je habite à Paris.” — “I live in in Paris.”
- “Tu habitas dans une maison hier.” — “You lived in a house yesterday.”
- “Il habitait près de la gare avant.” — “He used to live in near the station before.”
- “Je habiterai en France demain.” — “I will live in in France tomorrow.”
- “Tu habiterais à Paris un jour.” — “You would live in in Paris one day.”
- “Il a habité dans une maison cette semaine.” — “He has lived in a house this week.”
- “J'avais habité près de la gare avant la fête.” — “I had lived near the station before the party.”
- “Tu auras habité en France pour demain.” — “You will have lived in France by tomorrow.”
- “Bien que il habite à Paris” — “Although he lives in in Paris.”
- “habite dans une maison !” — “Live in in a house!”
Common mistakes
1. Using the infinitive instead of a conjugated form
✗ Wrong: “Je habiter à Paris.”
✓ Right: “Je habite à Paris.”
The infinitive habiter never takes a subject. After je you need the conjugated present form habite.
2. Using the wrong person
✗ Wrong: “Je habitons dans une maison.”
✓ Right: “Je habite dans une maison.”
habitons is the nous form. With je the present form is habite — check the person in the table before you speak.
3. Using the present for a finished past action
✗ Wrong: “Hier, je habite à Paris.”
✓ Right: “Hier, j'ai habité à Paris.”
The present habite describes now. For something finished yesterday, use the passé composé ai habité.
4. Using the passé simple in everyday speech
✗ Wrong: “Hier, je habitai près de la gare.” (in casual conversation)
✓ Right: “Hier, j'ai habité près de la gare.”
The passé simple habitai belongs in novels and formal writing. In everyday speech, say the passé composé ai habité.
5. Using the indicative after a subjunctive trigger
✗ Wrong: “Bien que je habite à Paris.”
✓ Right: “Bien que je habite à Paris.”
After bien que French needs the subjunctive, so use habite here, not the indicative habite.
6. Using the imperfect for a single finished action
✗ Wrong: “Je habitais en France avant.” (said of one finished moment)
✓ Right: “J'ai habité en France avant.”
The imperfect habitais describes something ongoing or repeated in the past. For one finished action, use the passé composé ai habité.
Quiz: test yourself
Ten questions on habiter. Choose the right form, then check the answer key below.
What is the je form of habiter in the Present indicative?
- A) habitons
- B) habitez
- C) habite
- D) habitent
What is the il/elle form of habiter in the Passé simple?
- A) habita
- B) habitâmes
- C) habitâtes
- D) habitèrent
What is the nous form of habiter in the Imperfect?
- A) habitais
- B) habitiez
- C) habitions
- D) habitaient
What is the tu form of habiter in the Future?
- A) habiteras
- B) habiterez
- C) habiterons
- D) habitera
What is the je form of habiter in the Conditional?
- A) habiterions
- B) habiterait
- C) habiterais
- D) habiteraient
What is the il/elle form of habiter in the Present subjunctive?
- A) habitions
- B) habitiez
- C) habite
- D) habitent
What is the je form of habiter in the Imperfect subjunctive?
- A) habitassent
- B) habitasse
- C) habitassiez
- D) habitât
What is the gerund of habiter?
- A) habitant
- B) dormant
- C) buvant
What is the past participle of habiter?
- A) bu
- B) habité
- C) dormi
What does habiter mean in English?
- A) sleep
- B) live in
- C) drink
- D) open
Answer key
- C) habite — The je form of habiter in the present indicative is habite.
- A) habita — The il/elle form of habiter in the passé simple is habita.
- C) habitions — The nous form of habiter in the imperfect is habitions.
- A) habiteras — The tu form of habiter in the future is habiteras.
- C) habiterais — The je form of habiter in the conditional is habiterais.
- C) habite — The il/elle form of habiter in the present subjunctive is habite.
- B) habitasse — The je form of habiter in the imperfect subjunctive is habitasse.
- A) habitant — The gerund of habiter is en habitant; it is used after en for actions in progress.
- B) habité — The past participle of habiter is habité; perfect tenses use avoir + habité.
- B) live in — habiter means “live in” in English.
Frequently asked questions
What does habiter mean in English?
habiter means “live in”. You use it for introducing yourself, for describing where you live, and for talking about a move. It is a core everyday verb, so its present-tense forms are worth learning first.
Is habiter regular or irregular?
habiter is regular, and it is irregular in these tenses: none — it is regular in every tense. The gerund is en habitant and the past participle is habité.
What are the gerund and past participle of habiter?
The gerund is en habitant — use it after en for actions in progress. The past participle is habité — use it with avoir for the perfect tenses, as in ai habité.
How do I say “I live in” in French?
Say “Je habite à Paris.” — “I live in in Paris.” The je form of the present is habite, and it is the form you will use most often.
What is the difference between habiter and vivre?
habiter means “live in” while vivre means “live” — they describe different actions, so they are not interchangeable. Compare the full table for vivre and check the meaning in context before you choose.
Related pages
- Habiter Present Tense Conjugation in French
- Habiter Examples, Sentences & Quiz in French
- Vivre conjugation
- Rester conjugation
- Rentrer conjugation
- French verbs — the full hub of French conjugation pages.
- Spanish verbs — the full hub of Spanish conjugation pages.
- VerbFlow home — all languages and tools.
- Verb Conjugator — practise habiter with the interactive tool.
- Verb Quiz — practise habiter with the interactive tool.
- Present Tense Conjugator — practise habiter with the interactive tool.