Lire: Examples, Sentences and Quiz in French
Introduction
Lire means “to read”, and it is one of the most useful verbs in French — you will meet it in conversation, in books, in films and in every textbook. This page puts the verb to work: twelve example sentences across the tenses, a short dialogue you can act out, a tour of the verb in its most important tenses, the mistakes learners make most often, and a ten-question quiz with explained answers. Every form on this page comes from the verified conjugation tables for lire, so you can trust what you read here. Start with the examples, say them aloud, and then test yourself with the quiz at the end.
Example sentences
Twelve sentences with lire, in different tenses and with different subjects. Read the French first, guess the meaning, then check the English.
- “Je lis un livre le soir tous les jours.” — “I read a book in the evening every day.”
- “Tu lis le journal tous les matins tous les jours.” — “You read the newspaper every morning every day.”
- “J'ai lu une lettre de Marie cette semaine.” — “I have read a letter from Marie this week.”
- “Il lisait un livre le soir autrefois.” — “He used to read a book in the evening in the past.”
- “Nous lirons le journal tous les matins demain.” — “We will read the newspaper every morning tomorrow.”
- “Tu as lu une lettre de Marie cette semaine.” — “You have read a letter from Marie this week.”
- “Je lirais un livre le soir un jour.” — “I would read a book in the evening one day.”
- “Il est important que il lise le journal tous les matins.” — “It is important that he read the newspaper every morning.”
- “Nous avions lu une lettre de Marie avant la fête.” — “We had read a letter from Marie before the party.”
- “Il lira un livre le soir demain.” — “He will read a book in the evening tomorrow.”
- “Ils lisent le journal tous les matins tous les jours.” — “They read the newspaper every morning every day.”
- “Lis une lettre de Marie !” — “Read a letter from Marie!”
A short dialogue
Marie and Pierre are talking about a book in the evening. Read the dialogue aloud, one voice per person, and notice how lire changes with the tense and the subject. Every form of lire below is taken from the verified tables.
Marie : Tu fais quoi, ce soir ? Pierre : “Je lis un livre le soir tous les jours.” — “I read a book in the evening every day.” Marie : Et demain ? Pierre : “Je lirai le journal tous les matins demain.” — “I will read the newspaper every morning tomorrow.” Marie : Tu as fait ça hier aussi ? Pierre : “J'ai lu une lettre de Marie cette semaine.” — “I have read a letter from Marie this week.” Marie : Tu ferais ça un jour ? Pierre : “Je lirais un livre le soir un jour.” — “I would read a book in the evening one day.”
Notice how the dialogue moves through time: the present for what is happening now, the future for tomorrow, the passé composé for yesterday, and the conditional for what someone would do one day. The verb stays the same — only the tense changes — and that is the whole point of learning a conjugation table: one verb, many moments.
Lire in different tenses
The same verb does different jobs in different tenses. Here are the six uses of lire that matter most, each with a sentence you can copy and adapt.
The present: habits and facts
In the present, lire describes habits, facts and what is happening now. The je form is lis: “Je lis un livre le soir tous les jours.” — “I read a book in the evening every day.”
The imperfect: the past as it used to be
In the imperfect, lire describes the past as it used to be — background, habit, an action in progress. The il form is lisait: “Il lisait le journal tous les matins autrefois.” — “He used to read the newspaper every morning in the past.”
The passé composé: finished actions
In the passé composé, lire reports one finished action, built with avoir plus the participle lu. The je form is ai lu: “J'ai lu une lettre de Marie cette semaine.” — “I have read a letter from Marie this week.”
The future: what will happen
In the future, lire talks about what will happen. The nous form is lirons: “Nous lirons un livre le soir demain.” — “We will read a book in the evening tomorrow.”
The conditional: what would happen
In the conditional, lire talks about what would happen. The tu form is lirais: “Tu lirais le journal tous les matins un jour.” — “You would read the newspaper every morning one day.”
The subjunctive: wishes and doubts
In the subjunctive, lire appears after triggers such as il est important que. The form is lise, and the sentence keeps the same complement as the other tenses: “Il est important que je lise une lettre de Marie.” — “It is important that I read a letter from Marie.”
Common mistakes
Using the infinitive instead of a conjugated form
✗ Wrong: “Je lire un livre le soir.”
✓ Right: “Je lis un livre le soir.”
The infinitive lire never takes a subject. After je you need the conjugated form lis.
Using the wrong person’s form
✗ Wrong: “Tu lis un livre le soir.”
✓ Right: “Tu lis un livre le soir.”
lis is the je form. With tu you need lis. Check the subject before you choose the form.
Using the present for a finished past action
✗ Wrong: “Je lis un livre le soir hier.”
✓ Right: “Je ai lu un livre le soir hier.”
The time word hier points to the past, so a finished action needs the passé composé ai lu, not the present.
Using the indicative after a subjunctive trigger
✗ Wrong: “Il est important que tu lis le journal tous les matins.”
✓ Right: “Il est important que tu lises le journal tous les matins.”
After il est important que French needs the subjunctive: lises, not the indicative lis.
Forgetting the auxiliary in the passé composé
✗ Wrong: “Je lu un livre le soir.”
✓ Right: “Je ai lu un livre le soir.”
The passé composé of lire needs the auxiliary avoir plus the participle lu: the full je form is ai lu.
Quiz: test yourself
Ten questions on lire. Choose the right answer, then check the answer key below.
What is the je form of lire in the Present indicative?
- A) lis
- B) lit
- C) lisons
- D) lisez
What is the tu form of lire in the Present indicative?
- A) lis
- B) lit
- C) lisons
- D) lisez
What is the il/elle form of lire in the Present perfect (passé composé)?
- A) as lu
- B) avons lu
- C) a lu
- D) ai lu
What is the nous form of lire in the Imperfect?
- A) lisais
- B) lisait
- C) lisiez
- D) lisions
What is the tu form of lire in the Future?
- A) lirons
- B) liras
- C) lirai
- D) lira
What is the je form of lire in the Conditional?
- A) lirais
- B) lirait
- C) lirions
- D) liriez
What is the il/elle form of lire in the Present subjunctive?
- A) lises
- B) lisions
- C) lisiez
- D) lise
What is the je form of lire in the Pluperfect (plus-que-parfait)?
- A) avait lu
- B) avions lu
- C) aviez lu
- D) avais lu
What is the gerund of lire?
- A) en comprenant
- B) en commençant
- C) en lisant
- D) en tombant
What does lire mean in English?
- A) to begin
- B) to read
- C) to fall
- D) to understand
Answer key
- A) lis — the je form of lire in the Present indicative is lis. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
- A) lis — the tu form of lire in the Present indicative is lis. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
- C) a lu — the il/elle form of lire in the Present perfect (passé composé) is a lu. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
- D) lisions — the nous form of lire in the Imperfect is lisions. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
- B) liras — the tu form of lire in the Future is liras. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
- A) lirais — the je form of lire in the Conditional is lirais. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
- D) lise — the il/elle form of lire in the Present subjunctive is lise. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
- D) avais lu — the je form of lire in the Pluperfect (plus-que-parfait) is avais lu. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
- C) en lisant — the gerund of lire is en lisant. The other options are the gerunds of neighbouring verbs.
- B) to read — lire means “to read” in English. The other options are the meanings of neighbouring verbs.
Frequently asked questions
What does lire mean in English?
lire means “to read”. It is a core everyday verb, so its present-tense forms are worth learning first.
Is lire regular or irregular?
lire is irregular in these tenses: present, passe-simple, present-subjunctive, imperative-affirmative, imperative-negative. The gerund is lisant and the past participle is lu.
How do I practise lire every day?
Say one sentence with lire in the present, one in the passé composé and one in the future every day, using the examples on this page as models — for example, “Je lis un livre le soir tous les jours.”, “J'ai lu un livre le soir cette semaine.” and “Je lirai un livre le soir demain.”. Then take the quiz again and check your answers against the key.
Pronunciation
Pronunciation is not listed on this page: the verified tables do not include IPA for lire, so no pronunciation is given rather than an invented one.
Related pages
- Full conjugation of lire — every tense of lire in one place.
- Lire in the passé composé tense — the full table and usage rules for one tense.
- Lire examples and quiz — more example sentences and practice questions for this verb.
- Tomber conjugation — another everyday French verb.
- Comprendre conjugation — another everyday French verb.
- Commencer conjugation — another everyday French verb.
- French irregular verbs — every common irregular French verb, grouped by pattern.
- French verbs — the full hub of French conjugation pages.
- Spanish verbs — the full hub of Spanish conjugation pages.
- VerbFlow home — all languages, tools and verb lists.
- Spanish Verb Quiz — practise lire with the interactive tool.
- Conjugation Practice — practise lire with the interactive tool.
- Verb Translator — practise lire with the interactive tool.