Marcher Conjugation in French

marcher means “walk” in English, and it is a verb French learners meet early — it sits in VerbFlow’s frequency list for French. You use it for describing a walk, for talking about exercise, and for giving directions on foot. 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 marcher — 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 marche dans le parc.” — “I walk in the park.”

Quick facts

  • Infinitive: marcher
  • English: walk
  • Verb type: Regular
  • Irregular in: none — it is regular in every tense
  • Gerund: en marchant
  • Past participle: marché
  • 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 marcher, so no pronunciation is given rather than an invented one.

Full conjugation tables

Every form below comes from VerbFlow’s verified conjugation tables for marcher. 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 marche
tu marches
il/elle marche
nous marchons
vous marchez
ils/elles marchent

Passé simple

Person Form
je marchai
tu marchas
il/elle marcha
nous marchâmes
vous marchâtes
ils/elles marchèrent

Imperfect

Person Form
je marchais
tu marchais
il/elle marchait
nous marchions
vous marchiez
ils/elles marchaient

Future

Person Form
je marcherai
tu marcheras
il/elle marchera
nous marcherons
vous marcherez
ils/elles marcheront

Conditional

Person Form
je marcherais
tu marcherais
il/elle marcherait
nous marcherions
vous marcheriez
ils/elles marcheraient

Present subjunctive

Person Form
je marche
tu marches
il/elle marche
nous marchions
vous marchiez
ils/elles marchent

Imperfect subjunctive

Person Form
je marchasse
tu marchasses
il/elle marchât
nous marchassions
vous marchassiez
ils/elles marchassent

Present perfect

Person Form
je ai marché
tu as marché
il/elle a marché
nous avons marché
vous avez marché
ils/elles ont marché

Pluperfect (past perfect)

Person Form
je avais marché
tu avais marché
il/elle avait marché
nous avions marché
vous aviez marché
ils/elles avaient marché

Future perfect

Person Form
je aurai marché
tu auras marché
il/elle aura marché
nous aurons marché
vous aurez marché
ils/elles auront marché

Conditional perfect

Person Form
je aurais marché
tu aurais marché
il/elle aurait marché
nous aurions marché
vous auriez marché
ils/elles auraient marché

Imperative (affirmative)

Person Form
tu marche
nous marchons
vous marchez

Imperative (negative)

Person Form
tu marche
nous marchons
vous marchez

Gerund and past participle

Form French
Gerund en marchant
Past participle marché

When to use each tense

Present indicative

The present indicative is used for habits, facts and things happening now. For example: “Je marche tous les jours.” — “I walk every day.”

Passé simple

The passé simple is used for completed actions in the past, mainly in written and literary French. For example: “Je marchai tous les jours hier.” — “I walked every day yesterday.”

Imperfect

The imperfect is used for ongoing or habitual actions in the past, and background description. For example: “Je marchais tous les jours avant.” — “I used to walk every day before.”

Future

The future is used for what will happen, predictions and plans. For example: “Je marcherai tous les jours demain.” — “I will walk every day tomorrow.”

Conditional

The conditional is used for what would happen, polite requests and hypothetical situations. For example: “Je marcherais tous les jours un jour.” — “I would walk every day one day.”

Present subjunctive

The present subjunctive is used for wishes, doubts, emotions and opinions after que. For example: “Bien que je marche tous les jours” — “Although I walk every day.”

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 marchasse tous les jours” — “Although I walk every day.”

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 marché tous les jours cette semaine.” — “I have walked every day this week.”

Pluperfect (past perfect)

The pluperfect (past perfect) is used for an action completed before another past action. For example: “J'avais marché tous les jours avant la fête.” — “I had walked every day 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 marché tous les jours pour demain.” — “I will have walked every day by tomorrow.”

Conditional perfect

The conditional perfect is used for what would have happened in a different past. For example: “J'aurais marché tous les jours hier.” — “I would have walked every day yesterday.”

Imperative (affirmative)

The imperative (affirmative) is used for direct commands and instructions. For example: “marche tous les jours !” — “Walk every day!”

Imperative (negative)

The imperative (negative) is used for prohibitions and negative commands. For example: “Ne marche pas tous les jours !” — “Don't walk every day!”

Gerund and past participle

The gerund en marchant is used after en for an action in progress, and the past participle marché builds the perfect tenses with avoir. For example: “J'ai marché lentement cette semaine.” — “I have walked slowly this week.”

Example sentences

Ten natural sentences with marcher, covering different tenses and persons. Say each one aloud, then cover the French and try to produce it from the English.

  1. “Je marche dans le parc.” — “I walk in the park.”
  2. “Tu marchas tous les jours hier.” — “You walked every day yesterday.”
  3. “Il marchait lentement avant.” — “He used to walk slowly before.”
  4. “Je marcherai vers la gare demain.” — “I will walk towards the station tomorrow.”
  5. “Tu marcherais dans le parc un jour.” — “You would walk in the park one day.”
  6. “Il a marché tous les jours cette semaine.” — “He has walked every day this week.”
  7. “J'avais marché lentement avant la fête.” — “I had walked slowly before the party.”
  8. “Tu auras marché vers la gare pour demain.” — “You will have walked towards the station by tomorrow.”
  9. “Bien que il marche dans le parc” — “Although he walks in the park.”
  10. “marche tous les jours !” — “Walk every day!”

Common mistakes

1. Using the infinitive instead of a conjugated form

✗ Wrong: “Je marcher dans le parc.”

✓ Right: “Je marche dans le parc.”

The infinitive marcher never takes a subject. After je you need the conjugated present form marche.

2. Using the wrong person

✗ Wrong: “Je marchons tous les jours.”

✓ Right: “Je marche tous les jours.”

marchons is the nous form. With je the present form is marche — check the person in the table before you speak.

3. Using the present for a finished past action

✗ Wrong: “Hier, je marche dans le parc.”

✓ Right: “Hier, j'ai marché dans le parc.”

The present marche describes now. For something finished yesterday, use the passé composé ai marché.

4. Using the passé simple in everyday speech

✗ Wrong: “Hier, je marchai lentement.” (in casual conversation)

✓ Right: “Hier, j'ai marché lentement.”

The passé simple marchai belongs in novels and formal writing. In everyday speech, say the passé composé ai marché.

5. Using the indicative after a subjunctive trigger

✗ Wrong: “Bien que je marche dans le parc.”

✓ Right: “Bien que je marche dans le parc.”

After bien que French needs the subjunctive, so use marche here, not the indicative marche.

6. Using the imperfect for a single finished action

✗ Wrong: “Je marchais vers la gare avant.” (said of one finished moment)

✓ Right: “J'ai marché vers la gare avant.”

The imperfect marchais describes something ongoing or repeated in the past. For one finished action, use the passé composé ai marché.

Quiz: test yourself

Ten questions on marcher. Choose the right form, then check the answer key below.

  1. What is the je form of marcher in the Present indicative?

    • A) marche
    • B) marchent
    • C) marches
    • D) marchez

  2. What is the il/elle form of marcher in the Passé simple?

    • A) marchâtes
    • B) marchèrent
    • C) marchâmes
    • D) marcha

  3. What is the nous form of marcher in the Imperfect?

    • A) marchais
    • B) marchiez
    • C) marchait
    • D) marchions

  4. What is the tu form of marcher in the Future?

    • A) marcheras
    • B) marcheront
    • C) marcherai
    • D) marcherez

  5. What is the je form of marcher in the Conditional?

    • A) marcherais
    • B) marcheriez
    • C) marcherait
    • D) marcheraient

  6. What is the il/elle form of marcher in the Present subjunctive?

    • A) marchent
    • B) marche
    • C) marchions
    • D) marchiez

  7. What is the je form of marcher in the Imperfect subjunctive?

    • A) marchasses
    • B) marchasse
    • C) marchassent
    • D) marchassions

  8. What is the gerund of marcher?

    • A) buvant
    • B) marchant
    • C) dormant

  9. What is the past participle of marcher?

    • A) bu
    • B) marché
    • C) dormi

  10. What does marcher mean in English?

  • A) sleep
  • B) walk
  • C) open
  • D) drink

Answer key

  1. A) marche — The je form of marcher in the present indicative is marche.
  2. D) marcha — The il/elle form of marcher in the passé simple is marcha.
  3. D) marchions — The nous form of marcher in the imperfect is marchions.
  4. A) marcheras — The tu form of marcher in the future is marcheras.
  5. A) marcherais — The je form of marcher in the conditional is marcherais.
  6. B) marche — The il/elle form of marcher in the present subjunctive is marche.
  7. B) marchasse — The je form of marcher in the imperfect subjunctive is marchasse.
  8. B) marchant — The gerund of marcher is en marchant; it is used after en for actions in progress.
  9. B) marché — The past participle of marcher is marché; perfect tenses use avoir + marché.
  10. B) walk — marcher means “walk” in English.

Frequently asked questions

What does marcher mean in English?

marcher means “walk”. You use it for describing a walk, for talking about exercise, and for giving directions on foot. It is a core everyday verb, so its present-tense forms are worth learning first.

Is marcher regular or irregular?

marcher is regular, and it is irregular in these tenses: none — it is regular in every tense. The gerund is en marchant and the past participle is marché.

What are the gerund and past participle of marcher?

The gerund is en marchant — use it after en for actions in progress. The past participle is marché — use it with avoir for the perfect tenses, as in ai marché.

How do I say “I walk” in French?

Say “Je marche dans le parc.” — “I walk in the park.” The je form of the present is marche, and it is the form you will use most often.

What is the difference between marcher and courir?

marcher means “walk” while courir means “run” — they describe different actions, so they are not interchangeable. Compare the full table for courir and check the meaning in context before you choose.

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