nettoyer Examples, Sentences & Quiz in French

nettoyer — clean — is one of the verbs you will use every day in French. nettoyer is the verb for talking about housework: it comes up whenever you talk about describing the weekend routine or cleaning before guests arrive. On this page you will find nettoyer in real sentences, grouped by meaning and tense, two short texts that show it in context, the mistakes learners actually make with it, and a ten-question quiz with explained answers. Start with the examples, say them aloud, and then test yourself.

Example sentences with nettoyer

In the present tense

  • “Je nettoie la cuisine.” — “I clean the kitchen.”
  • “Tu nettoies la maison.” — “You clean the house.”
  • “Il nettoie les fenêtres.” — “He cleans the windows.”
  • “Nous nettoyons tous les samedis.” — “We clean every Saturday.”
  • “Vous nettoyez la cuisine.” — “You clean the kitchen.”
  • “Ils nettoient la maison.” — “They clean the house.”

In the passé composé

  • “J'ai nettoyé la cuisine cette semaine.” — “I have cleaned the kitchen this week.”
  • “Tu as nettoyé la maison cette semaine.” — “You have cleaned the house this week.”
  • “Il a nettoyé les fenêtres cette semaine.” — “He has cleaned the windows this week.”
  • “Nous avons nettoyé tous les samedis cette semaine.” — “We have cleaned every Saturday this week.”
  • “Vous avez nettoyé la cuisine cette semaine.” — “You have cleaned the kitchen this week.”
  • “Ils ont nettoyé la maison cette semaine.” — “They have cleaned the house this week.”

In other tenses

The same verb in the imperfect, the future, the conditional and the present subjunctive — the four tenses that complete the picture. All forms come from the verified tables.

  • “Je nettoyais la cuisine avant.” — “I used to clean the kitchen before.”
  • “Je nettoierai la maison demain.” — “I will clean the house tomorrow.”
  • “Je nettoierais les fenêtres un jour.” — “I would clean the windows one day.”
  • “Bien que il nettoie tous les samedis” — “Although he cleans every Saturday.”

nettoyer in context

Je nettoie la cuisine. Tu nettoies la maison. Il nettoie les fenêtres. Nous nettoyons tous les samedis.

I clean the kitchen. You clean the house. He cleans the windows. We clean every Saturday.

J'ai nettoyé la cuisine. Il a nettoyé la maison. Nous avons nettoyé les fenêtres.

I have cleaned the kitchen this week. He has cleaned the house this week. We have cleaned the windows this week.

Common mistakes with nettoyer

Mistake 1

Wrong: Je nettoyer la cuisine.

Right: Je nettoie la cuisine.

The infinitive never takes a subject: after je you need the conjugated form nettoie.

Mistake 2

Wrong: Je nettoyons la maison.

Right: Je nettoie la maison.

nettoyons is the nous form. With je, use nettoie.

Mistake 3

Wrong: Hier, je nettoie les fenêtres.

Right: Hier, j'ai nettoyé les fenêtres.

Yesterday needs the passé composé ai nettoyé, not the present.

Mistake 4

Wrong: Bien que je nettoie tous les samedis.

Right: Bien que je nettoie tous les samedis.

After bien que French needs the subjunctive nettoie.

Mistake 5

Wrong: Je nettoyais la cuisine hier. (said of one finished moment)

Right: J'ai nettoyé la cuisine hier.

The imperfect describes an ongoing or repeated past. One finished moment yesterday takes the passé composé.

Quiz: test yourself on nettoyer

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

  1. What is the tu form of nettoyer in the Present indicative?

    • A) nettoyons
    • B) nettoies
    • C) nettoient
    • D) nettoie

  2. What is the nous form of nettoyer in the Present indicative?

    • A) nettoyons
    • B) nettoie
    • C) nettoient
    • D) nettoies

  3. What is the il/elle form of nettoyer in the Present perfect?

    • A) as nettoyé
    • B) a nettoyé
    • C) ai nettoyé
    • D) ont nettoyé

  4. What is the je form of nettoyer in the Imperfect?

    • A) nettoyaient
    • B) nettoyait
    • C) nettoyions
    • D) nettoyais

  5. What is the nous form of nettoyer in the Future?

    • A) nettoieras
    • B) nettoiera
    • C) nettoierai
    • D) nettoierons

  6. What is the tu form of nettoyer in the Conditional?

    • A) nettoieraient
    • B) nettoierais
    • C) nettoieriez
    • D) nettoierions

  7. What is the je form of nettoyer in the Present subjunctive?

    • A) nettoies
    • B) nettoie
    • C) nettoyions
    • D) nettoyiez

  8. What is the il/elle form of nettoyer in the Imperfect subjunctive?

    • A) nettoyasses
    • B) nettoyasse
    • C) nettoyât
    • D) nettoyassent

  9. What is the gerund of nettoyer?

    • A) dormant
    • B) buvant
    • C) nettoyant

  10. What is the past participle of nettoyer?

  • A) bu
  • B) nettoyé
  • C) dormi

Answer key

  1. B) nettoies — The tu form of nettoyer in the present indicative is nettoies.
  2. A) nettoyons — The nous form of nettoyer in the present indicative is nettoyons.
  3. B) a nettoyé — The il/elle form of nettoyer in the present perfect is a nettoyé.
  4. D) nettoyais — The je form of nettoyer in the imperfect is nettoyais.
  5. D) nettoierons — The nous form of nettoyer in the future is nettoierons.
  6. B) nettoierais — The tu form of nettoyer in the conditional is nettoierais.
  7. B) nettoie — The je form of nettoyer in the present subjunctive is nettoie.
  8. C) nettoyât — The il/elle form of nettoyer in the imperfect subjunctive is nettoyât.
  9. C) nettoyant — The gerund of nettoyer is en nettoyant; it is used after en for actions in progress.
  10. B) nettoyé — The past participle of nettoyer is nettoyé; perfect tenses use avoir + nettoyé.

Frequently asked questions

What does nettoyer mean in English?

nettoyer means “clean”. You use it for talking about housework, for describing the weekend routine, and for cleaning before guests arrive.

Is nettoyer regular or irregular?

nettoyer is regular with a spelling change (yer), and it is irregular in these tenses: present, present-subjunctive, imperative-affirmative, imperative-negative. The gerund is en nettoyant and the past participle is nettoyé.

How do I say “I clean” in French?

Say “Je nettoie la cuisine.” — “I clean the kitchen.” The je form of the present is nettoie.

Where can I see the full conjugation of nettoyer?

On the full conjugation page, which has every tense, and on the Nettoyer Present Tense Conjugation in French page.

How to practise nettoyer this week

Pick one tense a day and say five sentences with nettoyer out loud, using the examples on this page as your starting point. On the first day, use only the present tense and the complements from the examples above — la cuisine, la maison and les fenêtres — and change only the person, so you hear how nettoie, nettoies and nettoie sound next to each other. On the second day, retell yesterday in the passé composé with ai nettoyé and the other perfect forms from the table. On the third day, write three short plans for tomorrow in the future tense, and on the fourth day, turn them into polite conditional sentences. Keep a small notebook and write each new sentence down: seeing en nettoyant and nettoyé in your own handwriting fixes them in memory far better than reading them once. Finally, take the quiz above again without looking at the answer key — when you can answer all ten questions from memory, move on to the next verb in the hub.

Pronunciation

Pronunciation is not listed on this page: the verified tables do not include IPA for nettoyer, so no pronunciation is given rather than an invented one.

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