payer Examples, Sentences & Quiz in French

payer — pay — is one of the verbs you will use every day in French. payer is the verb for paying at a restaurant: it comes up whenever you talk about talking about monthly bills or choosing how to pay. On this page you will find payer 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 payer

In the present tense

  • “Je paie la facture.” — “I pay the bill.”
  • “Tu paies le loyer.” — “You pay the rent.”
  • “Il paie en espèces.” — “He pays in cash.”
  • “Nous payons par carte.” — “We pay by card.”
  • “Vous payez la facture.” — “You pay the bill.”
  • “Ils paient le loyer.” — “They pay the rent.”

In the passé composé

  • “J'ai payé la facture cette semaine.” — “I have paid the bill this week.”
  • “Tu as payé le loyer cette semaine.” — “You have paid the rent this week.”
  • “Il a payé en espèces cette semaine.” — “He has paid in cash this week.”
  • “Nous avons payé par carte cette semaine.” — “We have paid by card this week.”
  • “Vous avez payé la facture cette semaine.” — “You have paid the bill this week.”
  • “Ils ont payé le loyer cette semaine.” — “They have paid the rent 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 payais la facture avant.” — “I used to pay the bill before.”
  • “Je paierai le loyer demain.” — “I will pay the rent tomorrow.”
  • “Je paierais en espèces un jour.” — “I would pay in cash one day.”
  • “Bien que il paie par carte” — “Although he pays by card.”

payer in context

Je paie la facture. Tu paies le loyer. Il paie en espèces. Nous payons par carte.

I pay the bill. You pay the rent. He pays in cash. We pay by card.

J'ai payé la facture. Il a payé le loyer. Nous avons payé en espèces.

I have paid the bill this week. He has paid the rent this week. We have paid in cash this week.

Common mistakes with payer

Mistake 1

Wrong: Je payer la facture.

Right: Je paie la facture.

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

Mistake 2

Wrong: Je payons le loyer.

Right: Je paie le loyer.

payons is the nous form. With je, use paie.

Mistake 3

Wrong: Hier, je paie en espèces.

Right: Hier, j'ai payé en espèces.

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

Mistake 4

Wrong: Bien que je paie par carte.

Right: Bien que je paie par carte.

After bien que French needs the subjunctive paie.

Mistake 5

Wrong: Je payais la facture hier. (said of one finished moment)

Right: J'ai payé la facture hier.

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

Quiz: test yourself on payer

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

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

    • A) payons
    • B) paient
    • C) paies
    • D) paie

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

    • A) paies
    • B) paient
    • C) paie
    • D) payons

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

    • A) a payé
    • B) avons payé
    • C) as payé
    • D) ont payé

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

    • A) payait
    • B) payaient
    • C) payais
    • D) payions

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

    • A) paieras
    • B) paierai
    • C) paieront
    • D) paierons

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

    • A) paieriez
    • B) paierions
    • C) paierais
    • D) paieraient

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

    • A) paie
    • B) payions
    • C) payiez
    • D) paies

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

    • A) payasse
    • B) payassent
    • C) payassiez
    • D) payât

  9. What is the gerund of payer?

    • A) buvant
    • B) payant
    • C) dormant

  10. What is the past participle of payer?

  • A) payé
  • B) bu
  • C) dormi

Answer key

  1. C) paies — The tu form of payer in the present indicative is paies.
  2. D) payons — The nous form of payer in the present indicative is payons.
  3. A) a payé — The il/elle form of payer in the present perfect is a payé.
  4. C) payais — The je form of payer in the imperfect is payais.
  5. D) paierons — The nous form of payer in the future is paierons.
  6. C) paierais — The tu form of payer in the conditional is paierais.
  7. A) paie — The je form of payer in the present subjunctive is paie.
  8. D) payât — The il/elle form of payer in the imperfect subjunctive is payât.
  9. B) payant — The gerund of payer is en payant; it is used after en for actions in progress.
  10. A) payé — The past participle of payer is payé; perfect tenses use avoir + payé.

Frequently asked questions

What does payer mean in English?

payer means “pay”. You use it for paying at a restaurant, for talking about monthly bills, and for choosing how to pay.

Is payer regular or irregular?

payer 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 payant and the past participle is payé.

How do I say “I pay” in French?

Say “Je paie la facture.” — “I pay the bill.” The je form of the present is paie.

Where can I see the full conjugation of payer?

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

How to practise payer this week

Pick one tense a day and say five sentences with payer 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 facture, le loyer and en espèces — and change only the person, so you hear how paie, paies and paie sound next to each other. On the second day, retell yesterday in the passé composé with ai payé 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 payant and payé 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 payer, so no pronunciation is given rather than an invented one.

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