Nettoyer Conjugation in French
nettoyer means “clean” in English, and it is a verb French learners meet early — it sits in VerbFlow’s frequency list for French. You use it for talking about housework, for describing the weekend routine, and for cleaning before guests arrive. 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 nettoyer — 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 nettoie la cuisine.” — “I clean the kitchen.”
Quick facts
- Infinitive: nettoyer
- English: clean
- Verb type: Regular with a spelling change (yer)
- Irregular in: present, present-subjunctive, imperative-affirmative, imperative-negative
- Gerund: en nettoyant
- Past participle: nettoyé
- 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 nettoyer, so no pronunciation is given rather than an invented one.
Full conjugation tables
Every form below comes from VerbFlow’s verified conjugation tables for nettoyer. 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 | nettoie |
| tu | nettoies |
| il/elle | nettoie |
| nous | nettoyons |
| vous | nettoyez |
| ils/elles | nettoient |
Passé simple
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| je | nettoyai |
| tu | nettoyas |
| il/elle | nettoya |
| nous | nettoyâmes |
| vous | nettoyâtes |
| ils/elles | nettoyèrent |
Imperfect
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| je | nettoyais |
| tu | nettoyais |
| il/elle | nettoyait |
| nous | nettoyions |
| vous | nettoyiez |
| ils/elles | nettoyaient |
Future
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| je | nettoierai |
| tu | nettoieras |
| il/elle | nettoiera |
| nous | nettoierons |
| vous | nettoierez |
| ils/elles | nettoieront |
Conditional
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| je | nettoierais |
| tu | nettoierais |
| il/elle | nettoierait |
| nous | nettoierions |
| vous | nettoieriez |
| ils/elles | nettoieraient |
Present subjunctive
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| je | nettoie |
| tu | nettoies |
| il/elle | nettoie |
| nous | nettoyions |
| vous | nettoyiez |
| ils/elles | nettoient |
Imperfect subjunctive
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| je | nettoyasse |
| tu | nettoyasses |
| il/elle | nettoyât |
| nous | nettoyassions |
| vous | nettoyassiez |
| ils/elles | nettoyassent |
Present perfect
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| je | ai nettoyé |
| tu | as nettoyé |
| il/elle | a nettoyé |
| nous | avons nettoyé |
| vous | avez nettoyé |
| ils/elles | ont nettoyé |
Pluperfect (past perfect)
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| je | avais nettoyé |
| tu | avais nettoyé |
| il/elle | avait nettoyé |
| nous | avions nettoyé |
| vous | aviez nettoyé |
| ils/elles | avaient nettoyé |
Future perfect
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| je | aurai nettoyé |
| tu | auras nettoyé |
| il/elle | aura nettoyé |
| nous | aurons nettoyé |
| vous | aurez nettoyé |
| ils/elles | auront nettoyé |
Conditional perfect
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| je | aurais nettoyé |
| tu | aurais nettoyé |
| il/elle | aurait nettoyé |
| nous | aurions nettoyé |
| vous | auriez nettoyé |
| ils/elles | auraient nettoyé |
Imperative (affirmative)
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| tu | nettoie |
| nous | nettoyons |
| vous | nettoyez |
Imperative (negative)
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| tu | nettoie |
| nous | nettoyons |
| vous | nettoyez |
Gerund and past participle
| Form | French |
|---|---|
| Gerund | en nettoyant |
| Past participle | nettoyé |
When to use each tense
Present indicative
The present indicative is used for habits, facts and things happening now. With nettoyer this tense is irregular, so the forms do not follow the regular pattern — learn them as a set rather than guessing from the infinitive. For example: “Je nettoie la maison.” — “I clean the house.”
Passé simple
The passé simple is used for completed actions in the past, mainly in written and literary French. For example: “Je nettoyai la maison hier.” — “I cleaned the house yesterday.”
Imperfect
The imperfect is used for ongoing or habitual actions in the past, and background description. For example: “Je nettoyais la maison avant.” — “I used to clean the house before.”
Future
The future is used for what will happen, predictions and plans. For example: “Je nettoierai la maison demain.” — “I will clean the house tomorrow.”
Conditional
The conditional is used for what would happen, polite requests and hypothetical situations. For example: “Je nettoierais la maison un jour.” — “I would clean the house one day.”
Present subjunctive
The present subjunctive is used for wishes, doubts, emotions and opinions after que. With nettoyer this tense is irregular, so the forms do not follow the regular pattern — learn them as a set rather than guessing from the infinitive. For example: “Bien que je nettoie la maison” — “Although I clean the house.”
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 nettoyasse la maison” — “Although I clean the house.”
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 nettoyé la maison cette semaine.” — “I have cleaned the house this week.”
Pluperfect (past perfect)
The pluperfect (past perfect) is used for an action completed before another past action. For example: “J'avais nettoyé la maison avant la fête.” — “I had cleaned the house 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 nettoyé la maison pour demain.” — “I will have cleaned the house by tomorrow.”
Conditional perfect
The conditional perfect is used for what would have happened in a different past. For example: “J'aurais nettoyé la maison hier.” — “I would have cleaned the house yesterday.”
Imperative (affirmative)
The imperative (affirmative) is used for direct commands and instructions. With nettoyer this tense is irregular, so the forms do not follow the regular pattern — learn them as a set rather than guessing from the infinitive. For example: “nettoie la maison !” — “Clean the house!”
Imperative (negative)
The imperative (negative) is used for prohibitions and negative commands. With nettoyer this tense is irregular, so the forms do not follow the regular pattern — learn them as a set rather than guessing from the infinitive. For example: “Ne nettoie pas la maison !” — “Don't clean the house!”
Gerund and past participle
The gerund en nettoyant is used after en for an action in progress, and the past participle nettoyé builds the perfect tenses with avoir. For example: “J'ai nettoyé les fenêtres cette semaine.” — “I have cleaned the windows this week.”
Example sentences
Ten natural sentences with nettoyer, covering different tenses and persons. Say each one aloud, then cover the French and try to produce it from the English.
- “Je nettoie la cuisine.” — “I clean the kitchen.”
- “Tu nettoyas la maison hier.” — “You cleaned the house yesterday.”
- “Il nettoyait les fenêtres avant.” — “He used to clean the windows before.”
- “Je nettoierai tous les samedis demain.” — “I will clean every Saturday tomorrow.”
- “Tu nettoierais la cuisine un jour.” — “You would clean the kitchen one day.”
- “Il a nettoyé la maison cette semaine.” — “He has cleaned the house this week.”
- “J'avais nettoyé les fenêtres avant la fête.” — “I had cleaned the windows before the party.”
- “Tu auras nettoyé tous les samedis pour demain.” — “You will have cleaned every Saturday by tomorrow.”
- “Bien que il nettoie la cuisine” — “Although he cleans the kitchen.”
- “nettoie la maison !” — “Clean the house!”
Common mistakes
1. Using the infinitive instead of a conjugated form
✗ Wrong: “Je nettoyer la cuisine.”
✓ Right: “Je nettoie la cuisine.”
The infinitive nettoyer never takes a subject. After je you need the conjugated present form nettoie.
2. Using the wrong person
✗ Wrong: “Je nettoyons la maison.”
✓ Right: “Je nettoie la maison.”
nettoyons is the nous form. With je the present form is nettoie — check the person in the table before you speak.
3. Using the present for a finished past action
✗ Wrong: “Hier, je nettoie la cuisine.”
✓ Right: “Hier, j'ai nettoyé la cuisine.”
The present nettoie describes now. For something finished yesterday, use the passé composé ai nettoyé.
4. Using the passé simple in everyday speech
✗ Wrong: “Hier, je nettoyai les fenêtres.” (in casual conversation)
✓ Right: “Hier, j'ai nettoyé les fenêtres.”
The passé simple nettoyai belongs in novels and formal writing. In everyday speech, say the passé composé ai nettoyé.
5. Using the indicative after a subjunctive trigger
✗ Wrong: “Bien que je nettoie la cuisine.”
✓ Right: “Bien que je nettoie la cuisine.”
After bien que French needs the subjunctive, so use nettoie here, not the indicative nettoie.
6. Using the imperfect for a single finished action
✗ Wrong: “Je nettoyais tous les samedis avant.” (said of one finished moment)
✓ Right: “J'ai nettoyé tous les samedis avant.”
The imperfect nettoyais describes something ongoing or repeated in the past. For one finished action, use the passé composé ai nettoyé.
Quiz: test yourself
Ten questions on nettoyer. Choose the right form, then check the answer key below.
What is the je form of nettoyer in the Present indicative?
- A) nettoyons
- B) nettoies
- C) nettoyez
- D) nettoie
What is the il/elle form of nettoyer in the Passé simple?
- A) nettoyai
- B) nettoyâmes
- C) nettoya
- D) nettoyas
What is the nous form of nettoyer in the Imperfect?
- A) nettoyiez
- B) nettoyions
- C) nettoyais
- D) nettoyait
What is the tu form of nettoyer in the Future?
- A) nettoieras
- B) nettoierez
- C) nettoiera
- D) nettoierons
What is the je form of nettoyer in the Conditional?
- A) nettoierais
- B) nettoierait
- C) nettoierions
- D) nettoieriez
What is the il/elle form of nettoyer in the Present subjunctive?
- A) nettoient
- B) nettoyiez
- C) nettoyions
- D) nettoie
What is the je form of nettoyer in the Imperfect subjunctive?
- A) nettoyassions
- B) nettoyassent
- C) nettoyasse
- D) nettoyasses
What is the gerund of nettoyer?
- A) dormant
- B) nettoyant
- C) buvant
What is the past participle of nettoyer?
- A) nettoyé
- B) bu
- C) dormi
What does nettoyer mean in English?
- A) open
- B) drink
- C) clean
- D) sleep
Answer key
- D) nettoie — The je form of nettoyer in the present indicative is nettoie.
- C) nettoya — The il/elle form of nettoyer in the passé simple is nettoya.
- B) nettoyions — The nous form of nettoyer in the imperfect is nettoyions.
- A) nettoieras — The tu form of nettoyer in the future is nettoieras.
- A) nettoierais — The je form of nettoyer in the conditional is nettoierais.
- D) nettoie — The il/elle form of nettoyer in the present subjunctive is nettoie.
- C) nettoyasse — The je form of nettoyer in the imperfect subjunctive is nettoyasse.
- B) nettoyant — The gerund of nettoyer is en nettoyant; it is used after en for actions in progress.
- A) nettoyé — The past participle of nettoyer is nettoyé; perfect tenses use avoir + nettoyé.
- C) clean — nettoyer means “clean” in English.
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. It is a core everyday verb, so its present-tense forms are worth learning first.
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.
What are the gerund and past participle of nettoyer?
The gerund is en nettoyant — use it after en for actions in progress. The past participle is nettoyé — use it with avoir for the perfect tenses, as in ai 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, and it is the form you will use most often.
What is the difference between nettoyer and laver?
nettoyer means “clean” while laver means “wash” — they describe different actions, so they are not interchangeable. Compare the full table for laver and check the meaning in context before you choose.
Related pages
- Nettoyer Present Tense Conjugation in French
- Nettoyer Examples, Sentences & Quiz in French
- Laver conjugation
- Préparer conjugation
- Habiter 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 nettoyer with the interactive tool.
- Irregular Verb Finder — practise nettoyer with the interactive tool.
- Verb Quiz — practise nettoyer with the interactive tool.