Monter Conjugation in French
monter means “to go up” in English, and it is a verb French learners meet early and use often. This page gives you the complete conjugation of monter — 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 monte dans le train à huit heures.” — “I get on the train at eight o’clock.” 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 monter 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: monter
- English: to go up
- Verb type: Regular -er verb
- Irregular in: — (regular in every tense)
- Gerund: en montant
- Past participle: monté
- Auxiliary: être (all perfect tenses are formed with être + the past participle)
Pronunciation is not listed on this page: the verified tables do not include IPA for monter, so no pronunciation is given rather than an invented one.
Full conjugation tables
Every form below comes from VerbFlow’s verified conjugation tables for monter. 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 | monte |
| tu | montes |
| il/elle | monte |
| nous | montons |
| vous | montez |
| ils/elles | montent |
Passé simple
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| je | montai |
| tu | montas |
| il/elle | monta |
| nous | montâmes |
| vous | montâtes |
| ils/elles | montèrent |
Imperfect
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| je | montais |
| tu | montais |
| il/elle | montait |
| nous | montions |
| vous | montiez |
| ils/elles | montaient |
Future
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| je | monterai |
| tu | monteras |
| il/elle | montera |
| nous | monterons |
| vous | monterez |
| ils/elles | monteront |
Conditional
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| je | monterais |
| tu | monterais |
| il/elle | monterait |
| nous | monterions |
| vous | monteriez |
| ils/elles | monteraient |
Present perfect (passé composé)
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| je | suis monté |
| tu | es monté |
| il/elle | est monté |
| nous | sommes monté |
| vous | êtes monté |
| ils/elles | sont monté |
Pluperfect (plus-que-parfait)
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| je | étais monté |
| tu | étais monté |
| il/elle | était monté |
| nous | étions monté |
| vous | étiez monté |
| ils/elles | étaient monté |
Future perfect
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| je | serai monté |
| tu | seras monté |
| il/elle | sera monté |
| nous | serons monté |
| vous | serez monté |
| ils/elles | seront monté |
Conditional perfect
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| je | serais monté |
| tu | serais monté |
| il/elle | serait monté |
| nous | serions monté |
| vous | seriez monté |
| ils/elles | seraient monté |
Present subjunctive
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| je | monte |
| tu | montes |
| il/elle | monte |
| nous | montions |
| vous | montiez |
| ils/elles | montent |
Imperfect subjunctive
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| je | montasse |
| tu | montasses |
| il/elle | montât |
| nous | montassions |
| vous | montassiez |
| ils/elles | montassent |
Imperative (affirmative)
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| tu | monte |
| nous | montons |
| vous | montez |
Imperative (negative)
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| tu | monte |
| nous | montons |
| vous | montez |
Gerund and past participle
| Form | French |
|---|---|
| Gerund | en montant |
| Past participle | monté |
When to use each tense
Present indicative
The present indicative is used for habits, facts and things happening now. For example: “Je monte dans le train à huit heures.” — “I get on the train at eight o’clock.”
Passé simple
The passé simple is used for completed actions in the past, mainly in written and literary French. For example: “Tu montas dans le train à huit heures.” — “You got on the train at eight o’clock one day.”
Imperfect
The imperfect is used for ongoing or habitual actions in the past, and background description. For example: “Il montait dans le train à huit heures quand j’étais jeune.” — “He used to get on the train at eight o’clock.”
Future
The future is used for what will happen, predictions and promises. For example: “Nous monterons dans le train à huit heures.” — “We will get on the train at eight o’clock tomorrow.”
Conditional
The conditional is used for what would happen, polite requests and hypothetical situations. For example: “Vous monteriez dans le train à huit heures.” — “You would get on the train at eight o’clock if you could.”
Present perfect (passé composé)
The present perfect (passé composé) is used for recent past actions and completed events. With monter it is formed with être + the past participle monté. For example: “Ils sont monté dans le train à huit heures hier.” — “They have got on the train at eight o’clock.”
Pluperfect (plus-que-parfait)
The pluperfect (plus-que-parfait) is used for an action completed before another past action. For example: “J'étais monté dans le train à huit heures avant la fête.” — “I had got on the train at eight o’clock before the party.”
Future perfect
The future perfect is used for what will have happened by a point in the future. For example: “Tu seras monté dans le train à huit heures.” — “You will have got on the train at eight o’clock by tomorrow evening.”
Conditional perfect
The conditional perfect is used for what would have happened in a different past. For example: “Il serait monté dans le train à huit heures.” — “He would have got on the train at eight o’clock 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 monte dans le train à huit heures.” — “It is important that I get on the train at eight o’clock.”
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 montasse dans le train à huit heures.” — “It was important that I get on the train at eight o’clock.”
Imperative (affirmative)
The imperative (affirmative) is used for direct commands and instructions. For example: “Monte dans le train à huit heures !” — “Get on the train at eight o’clock!”
Imperative (negative)
The imperative (negative) is used for prohibitions and negative commands. For example: “Monte dans le train à huit heures !” — “Do not get on the train at eight o’clock!”
Gerund and past participle
The gerund is en montant — “while getting on” — used after en to say how something happens. The past participle is monté, used with être for the perfect tenses, as in suis monté.
Example sentences
Ten natural sentences with monter, covering different tenses and persons. Say each one aloud, then cover the French and try to produce it from the English.
- “Je monte dans le train à huit heures.” — “I get on the train at eight o’clock.”
- “Tu montes dans le train à huit heures.” — “You get on the train at eight o’clock.”
- “Il montait dans le train à huit heures.” — “He used to get on the train at eight o’clock.”
- “Nous monterons dans le train à huit heures.” — “We will get on the train at eight o’clock tomorrow.”
- “Je monterais dans le train à huit heures.” — “I would get on the train at eight o’clock if I could.”
- “Tu es monté dans le train à huit heures.” — “You have got on the train at eight o’clock.”
- “Il était monté dans le train à huit heures.” — “He had got on the train at eight o’clock before the party.”
- “Nous serons monté dans le train à huit heures.” — “We will have got on the train at eight o’clock by tomorrow evening.”
- “Il faut que je monte dans le train à huit heures.” — “It is important that I get on the train at eight o’clock.”
- “Monte dans le train à huit heures !” — “Get on the train at eight o’clock!”
Common mistakes
1. Using the infinitive instead of a conjugated form
✗ Wrong: “Je monter dans le train à huit heures.”
✓ Right: “Je monte dans le train à huit heures.”
The infinitive monter never takes a subject. After je you need the conjugated present form monte.
2. Confusing monter with descendre
✗ Wrong: “Je monte les escaliers lentement.” (meant as “descendre”)
✓ Right: “Je monte dans le train à huit heures.”
monter means “to go up”; descendre means “to go down”. Keep the two verbs apart by their meaning, not by their sound.
3. Using avoir for the passé composé
✗ Wrong: “J’ai monté dans le train à huit heures.”
✓ Right: “Je suis monté dans le train à huit heures.”
With monter the passé composé is formed with être, not avoir: suis monté.
4. Using the indicative after a subjunctive trigger
✗ Wrong: “Il faut que je monte dans le train à huit heures.”
✓ Right: “Il faut que je monte dans le train à huit heures.”
After il faut que French needs the subjunctive, so use monte here, not the indicative monte.
5. Forgetting that the participle agrees with être
✗ Wrong: “Elle est monté.” (said of a woman, with the masculine form)
✓ Right: “Elle est montée.” — the participle agrees in gender and number with the subject when the auxiliary is être; the tables on this page give the masculine singular form monté.
With être the past participle agrees with the subject. The tables give the masculine singular; add -e for a feminine subject and -s for a plural one.
Quiz: test yourself
What is the je form of monter in the Present indicative?
- A) montons
- B) montent
- C) montes
- D) monte
What is the ils/elles form of monter in the Present indicative?
- A) montes
- B) montent
- C) montez
- D) monte
What is the il/elle form of monter in the Passé simple?
- A) montâmes
- B) montèrent
- C) montas
- D) monta
What is the nous form of monter in the Imperfect?
- A) montaient
- B) montais
- C) montiez
- D) montions
What is the tu form of monter in the Future?
- A) monteront
- B) monterez
- C) montera
- D) monteras
What is the je form of monter in the Conditional?
- A) monteriez
- B) monteraient
- C) monterais
- D) monterions
What is the il/elle form of monter in the Present perfect (passé composé)?
- A) sommes monté
- B) sont monté
- C) est monté
- D) es monté
What is the vous form of monter in the Pluperfect (plus-que-parfait)?
- A) étiez monté
- B) étaient monté
- C) étais monté
- D) étions monté
What is the gerund of monter?
- A) monté
- B) en montant
- C) monte
- D) monterai
What is the past participle of monter?
- A) monte
- B) en montant
- C) monté
- D) montais
Answer key
- D) monte — the je form of monter in the present indicative is monte.
- B) montent — the ils/elles form of monter in the present indicative is montent.
- D) monta — the il/elle form of monter in the passé simple is monta.
- D) montions — the nous form of monter in the imperfect is montions.
- D) monteras — the tu form of monter in the future is monteras.
- C) monterais — the je form of monter in the conditional is monterais.
- C) est monté — the il/elle form of monter in the present perfect (passé composé) is est monté.
- A) étiez monté — the vous form of monter in the pluperfect (plus-que-parfait) is étiez monté.
- B) en montant — the gerund of monter is en montant; it is used after en for actions in progress.
- C) monté — the past participle of monter is monté; perfect tenses use être + monté.
Frequently asked questions
What does monter mean in English?
monter means “to go up”. You use it in everyday situations like the examples on this page — for example, “Je monte dans le train à huit heures.” (“I get on the train at eight o’clock.”). It is a core everyday verb, so its present-tense forms are worth learning first.
Is monter regular or irregular?
monter is regular: its endings follow the standard -er pattern in every tense. The gerund is en montant and the past participle is monté.
What are the gerund and past participle of monter?
The gerund is en montant — use it after en for actions in progress. The past participle is monté — use it with être for the perfect tenses, as in suis monté.
What is the difference between monter and descendre?
monter means “to go up”, while descendre means “to go down”. 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 descendre and compare the meanings in context.
How do I say “I get on” in French?
Say “Je monte dans le train à huit heures.” — “I get on the train at eight o’clock.” The je form of the present is monte, and it is the form you will use most often.
How to learn monter
Start with the present tense: monte, montes, monte, montons, montez, montent. Say them in order every day for a week, then add the passé composé — suis monté — and the imperfect — montais. Next, learn the future (monterai) and the conditional (monterais), which share the same stem. Finally, tackle the subjunctive (monte) and the imperative (monte). 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
- monter in the present tense — the full table and uses for this verb in the present tense.
- monter 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.
- Descendre conjugation — another French verb to practise with.
- Spanish verbs — the full hub of Spanish conjugation pages.
- Verb Conjugator — practise monter with the interactive tool.
- Verb Quiz — practise monter with the interactive tool.
- Present Tense Conjugator — practise the present tense with the interactive tool.
- VerbFlow home — back to the start.