Offrir Conjugation in French

offrir means “offer” in English, and it is a verb French learners meet early — it sits in VerbFlow’s frequency list for French. You use it for giving a present, for celebrating a birthday, and for thanking someone. 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 offrir — 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: “J'offre des fleurs.” — “I offer some flowers.”

Quick facts

  • Infinitive: offrir
  • English: offer
  • Verb type: Irregular
  • Irregular in: present, passe-simple, present-subjunctive, imperative-affirmative, imperative-negative
  • Gerund: en offrant
  • Past participle: offert
  • 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 offrir, so no pronunciation is given rather than an invented one.

Full conjugation tables

Every form below comes from VerbFlow’s verified conjugation tables for offrir. 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 offre
tu offres
il/elle offre
nous offrons
vous offrez
ils/elles offrent

Passé simple

Person Form
je offris
tu offris
il/elle offrit
nous offrîmes
vous offrîtes
ils/elles offrirent

Imperfect

Person Form
je offrais
tu offrais
il/elle offrait
nous offrions
vous offriez
ils/elles offraient

Future

Person Form
je offrirai
tu offriras
il/elle offrira
nous offrirons
vous offrirez
ils/elles offriront

Conditional

Person Form
je offrirais
tu offrirais
il/elle offrirait
nous offririons
vous offririez
ils/elles offriraient

Present subjunctive

Person Form
je offre
tu offres
il/elle offre
nous offrions
vous offriez
ils/elles offrent

Imperfect subjunctive

Person Form
je offrisse
tu offrisses
il/elle offrît
nous offrissions
vous offrissiez
ils/elles offrissent

Present perfect

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

Pluperfect (past perfect)

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

Future perfect

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

Conditional perfect

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

Imperative (affirmative)

Person Form
tu offre
nous offrons
vous offrez

Imperative (negative)

Person Form
tu offre
nous offrons
vous offrez

Gerund and past participle

Form French
Gerund en offrant
Past participle offert

When to use each tense

Present indicative

The present indicative is used for habits, facts and things happening now. With offrir 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: “J'offre un cadeau.” — “I offer a present.”

Passé simple

The passé simple is used for completed actions in the past, mainly in written and literary French. With offrir 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: “J'offris un cadeau hier.” — “I gave a present yesterday.”

Imperfect

The imperfect is used for ongoing or habitual actions in the past, and background description. For example: “J'offrais un cadeau avant.” — “I used to offer a present before.”

Future

The future is used for what will happen, predictions and plans. For example: “J'offrirai un cadeau demain.” — “I will offer a present tomorrow.”

Conditional

The conditional is used for what would happen, polite requests and hypothetical situations. For example: “J'offrirais un cadeau un jour.” — “I would offer a present one day.”

Present subjunctive

The present subjunctive is used for wishes, doubts, emotions and opinions after que. With offrir 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 j'offre un cadeau” — “Although I offer a present.”

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 j'offrisse un cadeau” — “Although I offer a present.”

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 offert un cadeau cette semaine.” — “I have given a present this week.”

Pluperfect (past perfect)

The pluperfect (past perfect) is used for an action completed before another past action. For example: “J'avais offert un cadeau avant la fête.” — “I had given a present 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 offert un cadeau pour demain.” — “I will have given a present by tomorrow.”

Conditional perfect

The conditional perfect is used for what would have happened in a different past. For example: “J'aurais offert un cadeau hier.” — “I would have given a present yesterday.”

Imperative (affirmative)

The imperative (affirmative) is used for direct commands and instructions. With offrir 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: “offre un cadeau !” — “Offer a present!”

Imperative (negative)

The imperative (negative) is used for prohibitions and negative commands. With offrir 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 offre pas un cadeau !” — “Don't offer a present!”

Gerund and past participle

The gerund en offrant is used after en for an action in progress, and the past participle offert builds the perfect tenses with avoir. For example: “J'ai offert un livre cette semaine.” — “I have given a book this week.”

Example sentences

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

  1. “J'offre des fleurs.” — “I offer some flowers.”
  2. “Tu offris un cadeau hier.” — “You gave a present yesterday.”
  3. “Il offrait un livre avant.” — “He used to offer a book before.”
  4. “J'offrirai du chocolat demain.” — “I will offer some chocolate tomorrow.”
  5. “Tu offrirais des fleurs un jour.” — “You would offer some flowers one day.”
  6. “Il a offert un cadeau cette semaine.” — “He has given a present this week.”
  7. “J'avais offert un livre avant la fête.” — “I had given a book before the party.”
  8. “Tu auras offert du chocolat pour demain.” — “You will have given some chocolate by tomorrow.”
  9. “Bien que il offre des fleurs” — “Although he offers some flowers.”
  10. “offre un cadeau !” — “Offer a present!”

Common mistakes

1. Using the infinitive instead of a conjugated form

✗ Wrong: “Je offrir des fleurs.”

✓ Right: “Je offre des fleurs.”

The infinitive offrir never takes a subject. After je you need the conjugated present form offre.

2. Using the wrong person

✗ Wrong: “Je offrons un cadeau.”

✓ Right: “Je offre un cadeau.”

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

3. Using the present for a finished past action

✗ Wrong: “Hier, je offre des fleurs.”

✓ Right: “Hier, j'ai offert des fleurs.”

The present offre describes now. For something finished yesterday, use the passé composé ai offert.

4. Using the passé simple in everyday speech

✗ Wrong: “Hier, je offris un livre.” (in casual conversation)

✓ Right: “Hier, j'ai offert un livre.”

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

5. Using the indicative after a subjunctive trigger

✗ Wrong: “Bien que je offre des fleurs.”

✓ Right: “Bien que je offre des fleurs.”

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

6. Using the imperfect for a single finished action

✗ Wrong: “Je offrais du chocolat avant.” (said of one finished moment)

✓ Right: “J'ai offert du chocolat avant.”

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

Quiz: test yourself

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

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

    • A) offre
    • B) offres
    • C) offrez
    • D) offrent

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

    • A) offrîtes
    • B) offrîmes
    • C) offris
    • D) offrit

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

    • A) offrions
    • B) offrait
    • C) offraient
    • D) offrais

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

    • A) offrirez
    • B) offriront
    • C) offrira
    • D) offriras

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

    • A) offririez
    • B) offrirait
    • C) offririons
    • D) offrirais

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

    • A) offre
    • B) offrions
    • C) offriez
    • D) offres

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

    • A) offrisse
    • B) offrissiez
    • C) offrissent
    • D) offrisses

  8. What is the gerund of offrir?

    • A) buvant
    • B) offrant
    • C) dormant

  9. What is the past participle of offrir?

    • A) offert
    • B) dormi
    • C) bu

  10. What does offrir mean in English?

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

Answer key

  1. A) offre — The je form of offrir in the present indicative is offre.
  2. D) offrit — The il/elle form of offrir in the passé simple is offrit.
  3. A) offrions — The nous form of offrir in the imperfect is offrions.
  4. D) offriras — The tu form of offrir in the future is offriras.
  5. D) offrirais — The je form of offrir in the conditional is offrirais.
  6. A) offre — The il/elle form of offrir in the present subjunctive is offre.
  7. A) offrisse — The je form of offrir in the imperfect subjunctive is offrisse.
  8. B) offrant — The gerund of offrir is en offrant; it is used after en for actions in progress.
  9. A) offert — The past participle of offrir is offert; perfect tenses use avoir + offert.
  10. A) offer — offrir means “offer” in English.

Frequently asked questions

What does offrir mean in English?

offrir means “offer”. You use it for giving a present, for celebrating a birthday, and for thanking someone. It is a core everyday verb, so its present-tense forms are worth learning first.

Is offrir regular or irregular?

offrir is irregular, and it is irregular in these tenses: present, passe-simple, present-subjunctive, imperative-affirmative, imperative-negative. The gerund is en offrant and the past participle is offert.

What are the gerund and past participle of offrir?

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

How do I say “I offer” in French?

Say “J'offre des fleurs.” — “I offer some flowers.” The je form of the present is offre, and it is the form you will use most often.

What is the difference between offrir and donner?

offrir means “offer” while donner means “give” — they describe different actions, so they are not interchangeable. Compare the full table for donner and check the meaning in context before you choose.

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