Inviter Conjugation in French
inviter means “invite” in English, and it is a verb French learners meet early — it sits in VerbFlow’s frequency list for French. You use it for organising a dinner, for inviting friends over, and for planning a party. 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 inviter — 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'invite mes amis.” — “I invite my friends.”
Quick facts
- Infinitive: inviter
- English: invite
- Verb type: Regular
- Irregular in: none — it is regular in every tense
- Gerund: en invitant
- Past participle: invité
- 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 inviter, so no pronunciation is given rather than an invented one.
Full conjugation tables
Every form below comes from VerbFlow’s verified conjugation tables for inviter. 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 | invite |
| tu | invites |
| il/elle | invite |
| nous | invitons |
| vous | invitez |
| ils/elles | invitent |
Passé simple
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| je | invitai |
| tu | invitas |
| il/elle | invita |
| nous | invitâmes |
| vous | invitâtes |
| ils/elles | invitèrent |
Imperfect
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| je | invitais |
| tu | invitais |
| il/elle | invitait |
| nous | invitions |
| vous | invitiez |
| ils/elles | invitaient |
Future
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| je | inviterai |
| tu | inviteras |
| il/elle | invitera |
| nous | inviterons |
| vous | inviterez |
| ils/elles | inviteront |
Conditional
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| je | inviterais |
| tu | inviterais |
| il/elle | inviterait |
| nous | inviterions |
| vous | inviteriez |
| ils/elles | inviteraient |
Present subjunctive
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| je | invite |
| tu | invites |
| il/elle | invite |
| nous | invitions |
| vous | invitiez |
| ils/elles | invitent |
Imperfect subjunctive
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| je | invitasse |
| tu | invitasses |
| il/elle | invitât |
| nous | invitassions |
| vous | invitassiez |
| ils/elles | invitassent |
Present perfect
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| je | ai invité |
| tu | as invité |
| il/elle | a invité |
| nous | avons invité |
| vous | avez invité |
| ils/elles | ont invité |
Pluperfect (past perfect)
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| je | avais invité |
| tu | avais invité |
| il/elle | avait invité |
| nous | avions invité |
| vous | aviez invité |
| ils/elles | avaient invité |
Future perfect
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| je | aurai invité |
| tu | auras invité |
| il/elle | aura invité |
| nous | aurons invité |
| vous | aurez invité |
| ils/elles | auront invité |
Conditional perfect
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| je | aurais invité |
| tu | aurais invité |
| il/elle | aurait invité |
| nous | aurions invité |
| vous | auriez invité |
| ils/elles | auraient invité |
Imperative (affirmative)
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| tu | invite |
| nous | invitons |
| vous | invitez |
Imperative (negative)
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| tu | invite |
| nous | invitons |
| vous | invitez |
Gerund and past participle
| Form | French |
|---|---|
| Gerund | en invitant |
| Past participle | invité |
When to use each tense
Present indicative
The present indicative is used for habits, facts and things happening now. For example: “J'invite Marie.” — “I invite Marie.”
Passé simple
The passé simple is used for completed actions in the past, mainly in written and literary French. For example: “J'invitai Marie hier.” — “I invited Marie yesterday.”
Imperfect
The imperfect is used for ongoing or habitual actions in the past, and background description. For example: “J'invitais Marie avant.” — “I used to invite Marie before.”
Future
The future is used for what will happen, predictions and plans. For example: “J'inviterai Marie demain.” — “I will invite Marie tomorrow.”
Conditional
The conditional is used for what would happen, polite requests and hypothetical situations. For example: “J'inviterais Marie un jour.” — “I would invite Marie one day.”
Present subjunctive
The present subjunctive is used for wishes, doubts, emotions and opinions after que. For example: “Bien que j'invite Marie” — “Although I invite Marie.”
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'invitasse Marie” — “Although I invite Marie.”
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 invité Marie cette semaine.” — “I have invited Marie this week.”
Pluperfect (past perfect)
The pluperfect (past perfect) is used for an action completed before another past action. For example: “J'avais invité Marie avant la fête.” — “I had invited Marie 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 invité Marie pour demain.” — “I will have invited Marie by tomorrow.”
Conditional perfect
The conditional perfect is used for what would have happened in a different past. For example: “J'aurais invité Marie hier.” — “I would have invited Marie yesterday.”
Imperative (affirmative)
The imperative (affirmative) is used for direct commands and instructions. For example: “invite Marie !” — “Invite Marie!”
Imperative (negative)
The imperative (negative) is used for prohibitions and negative commands. For example: “Ne invite pas Marie !” — “Don't invite Marie!”
Gerund and past participle
The gerund en invitant is used after en for an action in progress, and the past participle invité builds the perfect tenses with avoir. For example: “J'ai invité à dîner cette semaine.” — “I have invited to dinner this week.”
Example sentences
Ten natural sentences with inviter, covering different tenses and persons. Say each one aloud, then cover the French and try to produce it from the English.
- “J'invite mes amis.” — “I invite my friends.”
- “Tu invitas Marie hier.” — “You invited Marie yesterday.”
- “Il invitait à dîner avant.” — “He used to invite to dinner before.”
- “J'inviterai pour le week-end demain.” — “I will invite for the weekend tomorrow.”
- “Tu inviterais mes amis un jour.” — “You would invite my friends one day.”
- “Il a invité Marie cette semaine.” — “He has invited Marie this week.”
- “J'avais invité à dîner avant la fête.” — “I had invited to dinner before the party.”
- “Tu auras invité pour le week-end pour demain.” — “You will have invited for the weekend by tomorrow.”
- “Bien que il invite mes amis” — “Although he invites my friends.”
- “invite Marie !” — “Invite Marie!”
Common mistakes
1. Using the infinitive instead of a conjugated form
✗ Wrong: “Je inviter mes amis.”
✓ Right: “Je invite mes amis.”
The infinitive inviter never takes a subject. After je you need the conjugated present form invite.
2. Using the wrong person
✗ Wrong: “Je invitons Marie.”
✓ Right: “Je invite Marie.”
invitons is the nous form. With je the present form is invite — check the person in the table before you speak.
3. Using the present for a finished past action
✗ Wrong: “Hier, je invite mes amis.”
✓ Right: “Hier, j'ai invité mes amis.”
The present invite describes now. For something finished yesterday, use the passé composé ai invité.
4. Using the passé simple in everyday speech
✗ Wrong: “Hier, je invitai à dîner.” (in casual conversation)
✓ Right: “Hier, j'ai invité à dîner.”
The passé simple invitai belongs in novels and formal writing. In everyday speech, say the passé composé ai invité.
5. Using the indicative after a subjunctive trigger
✗ Wrong: “Bien que je invite mes amis.”
✓ Right: “Bien que je invite mes amis.”
After bien que French needs the subjunctive, so use invite here, not the indicative invite.
6. Using the imperfect for a single finished action
✗ Wrong: “Je invitais pour le week-end avant.” (said of one finished moment)
✓ Right: “J'ai invité pour le week-end avant.”
The imperfect invitais describes something ongoing or repeated in the past. For one finished action, use the passé composé ai invité.
Quiz: test yourself
Ten questions on inviter. Choose the right form, then check the answer key below.
What is the je form of inviter in the Present indicative?
- A) invite
- B) invitent
- C) invitons
- D) invites
What is the il/elle form of inviter in the Passé simple?
- A) invitâmes
- B) invitâtes
- C) invita
- D) invitai
What is the nous form of inviter in the Imperfect?
- A) invitais
- B) invitiez
- C) invitaient
- D) invitions
What is the tu form of inviter in the Future?
- A) invitera
- B) inviteras
- C) inviterez
- D) inviterai
What is the je form of inviter in the Conditional?
- A) inviterions
- B) inviterait
- C) inviterais
- D) inviteriez
What is the il/elle form of inviter in the Present subjunctive?
- A) invitiez
- B) invitions
- C) invite
- D) invitent
What is the je form of inviter in the Imperfect subjunctive?
- A) invitasse
- B) invitât
- C) invitasses
- D) invitassiez
What is the gerund of inviter?
- A) dormant
- B) invitant
- C) buvant
What is the past participle of inviter?
- A) dormi
- B) invité
- C) bu
What does inviter mean in English?
- A) invite
- B) sleep
- C) drink
- D) open
Answer key
- A) invite — The je form of inviter in the present indicative is invite.
- C) invita — The il/elle form of inviter in the passé simple is invita.
- D) invitions — The nous form of inviter in the imperfect is invitions.
- B) inviteras — The tu form of inviter in the future is inviteras.
- C) inviterais — The je form of inviter in the conditional is inviterais.
- C) invite — The il/elle form of inviter in the present subjunctive is invite.
- A) invitasse — The je form of inviter in the imperfect subjunctive is invitasse.
- B) invitant — The gerund of inviter is en invitant; it is used after en for actions in progress.
- B) invité — The past participle of inviter is invité; perfect tenses use avoir + invité.
- A) invite — inviter means “invite” in English.
Frequently asked questions
What does inviter mean in English?
inviter means “invite”. You use it for organising a dinner, for inviting friends over, and for planning a party. It is a core everyday verb, so its present-tense forms are worth learning first.
Is inviter regular or irregular?
inviter is regular, and it is irregular in these tenses: none — it is regular in every tense. The gerund is en invitant and the past participle is invité.
What are the gerund and past participle of inviter?
The gerund is en invitant — use it after en for actions in progress. The past participle is invité — use it with avoir for the perfect tenses, as in ai invité.
How do I say “I invite” in French?
Say “J'invite mes amis.” — “I invite my friends.” The je form of the present is invite, and it is the form you will use most often.
What is the difference between inviter and recevoir?
inviter means “invite” while recevoir means “receive” — they describe different actions, so they are not interchangeable. Compare the full table for recevoir and check the meaning in context before you choose.
Related pages
- Inviter Present Tense Conjugation in French
- Inviter Examples, Sentences & Quiz in French
- Recevoir conjugation
- Visiter conjugation
- Préparer 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 inviter with the interactive tool.
- Verb Quiz — practise inviter with the interactive tool.
- Present Tense Conjugator — practise inviter with the interactive tool.