Payer Conjugation in French

payer means “pay” in English, and it is a verb French learners meet early — it sits in VerbFlow’s frequency list for French. You use it for paying at a restaurant, for talking about monthly bills, and for choosing how to pay. 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 payer — 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 paie la facture.” — “I pay the bill.”

Quick facts

  • Infinitive: payer
  • English: pay
  • Verb type: Regular with a spelling change (yer)
  • Irregular in: present, present-subjunctive, imperative-affirmative, imperative-negative
  • Gerund: en payant
  • Past participle: payé
  • 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 payer, so no pronunciation is given rather than an invented one.

Full conjugation tables

Every form below comes from VerbFlow’s verified conjugation tables for payer. 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 paie
tu paies
il/elle paie
nous payons
vous payez
ils/elles paient

Passé simple

Person Form
je payai
tu payas
il/elle paya
nous payâmes
vous payâtes
ils/elles payèrent

Imperfect

Person Form
je payais
tu payais
il/elle payait
nous payions
vous payiez
ils/elles payaient

Future

Person Form
je paierai
tu paieras
il/elle paiera
nous paierons
vous paierez
ils/elles paieront

Conditional

Person Form
je paierais
tu paierais
il/elle paierait
nous paierions
vous paieriez
ils/elles paieraient

Present subjunctive

Person Form
je paie
tu paies
il/elle paie
nous payions
vous payiez
ils/elles paient

Imperfect subjunctive

Person Form
je payasse
tu payasses
il/elle payât
nous payassions
vous payassiez
ils/elles payassent

Present perfect

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

Pluperfect (past perfect)

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

Future perfect

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

Conditional perfect

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

Imperative (affirmative)

Person Form
tu paie
nous payons
vous payez

Imperative (negative)

Person Form
tu paie
nous payons
vous payez

Gerund and past participle

Form French
Gerund en payant
Past participle payé

When to use each tense

Present indicative

The present indicative is used for habits, facts and things happening now. With payer 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 paie le loyer.” — “I pay the rent.”

Passé simple

The passé simple is used for completed actions in the past, mainly in written and literary French. For example: “Je payai le loyer hier.” — “I paid the rent yesterday.”

Imperfect

The imperfect is used for ongoing or habitual actions in the past, and background description. For example: “Je payais le loyer avant.” — “I used to pay the rent before.”

Future

The future is used for what will happen, predictions and plans. For example: “Je paierai le loyer demain.” — “I will pay the rent tomorrow.”

Conditional

The conditional is used for what would happen, polite requests and hypothetical situations. For example: “Je paierais le loyer un jour.” — “I would pay the rent one day.”

Present subjunctive

The present subjunctive is used for wishes, doubts, emotions and opinions after que. With payer 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 paie le loyer” — “Although I pay the rent.”

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 payasse le loyer” — “Although I pay the rent.”

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 payé le loyer cette semaine.” — “I have paid the rent this week.”

Pluperfect (past perfect)

The pluperfect (past perfect) is used for an action completed before another past action. For example: “J'avais payé le loyer avant la fête.” — “I had paid the rent 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 payé le loyer pour demain.” — “I will have paid the rent by tomorrow.”

Conditional perfect

The conditional perfect is used for what would have happened in a different past. For example: “J'aurais payé le loyer hier.” — “I would have paid the rent yesterday.”

Imperative (affirmative)

The imperative (affirmative) is used for direct commands and instructions. With payer 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: “paie le loyer !” — “Pay the rent!”

Imperative (negative)

The imperative (negative) is used for prohibitions and negative commands. With payer 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 paie pas le loyer !” — “Don't pay the rent!”

Gerund and past participle

The gerund en payant is used after en for an action in progress, and the past participle payé builds the perfect tenses with avoir. For example: “J'ai payé en espèces cette semaine.” — “I have paid in cash this week.”

Example sentences

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

  1. “Je paie la facture.” — “I pay the bill.”
  2. “Tu payas le loyer hier.” — “You paid the rent yesterday.”
  3. “Il payait en espèces avant.” — “He used to pay in cash before.”
  4. “Je paierai par carte demain.” — “I will pay by card tomorrow.”
  5. “Tu paierais la facture un jour.” — “You would pay the bill one day.”
  6. “Il a payé le loyer cette semaine.” — “He has paid the rent this week.”
  7. “J'avais payé en espèces avant la fête.” — “I had paid in cash before the party.”
  8. “Tu auras payé par carte pour demain.” — “You will have paid by card by tomorrow.”
  9. “Bien que il paie la facture” — “Although he pays the bill.”
  10. “paie le loyer !” — “Pay the rent!”

Common mistakes

1. Using the infinitive instead of a conjugated form

✗ Wrong: “Je payer la facture.”

✓ Right: “Je paie la facture.”

The infinitive payer never takes a subject. After je you need the conjugated present form paie.

2. Using the wrong person

✗ Wrong: “Je payons le loyer.”

✓ Right: “Je paie le loyer.”

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

3. Using the present for a finished past action

✗ Wrong: “Hier, je paie la facture.”

✓ Right: “Hier, j'ai payé la facture.”

The present paie describes now. For something finished yesterday, use the passé composé ai payé.

4. Using the passé simple in everyday speech

✗ Wrong: “Hier, je payai en espèces.” (in casual conversation)

✓ Right: “Hier, j'ai payé en espèces.”

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

5. Using the indicative after a subjunctive trigger

✗ Wrong: “Bien que je paie la facture.”

✓ Right: “Bien que je paie la facture.”

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

6. Using the imperfect for a single finished action

✗ Wrong: “Je payais par carte avant.” (said of one finished moment)

✓ Right: “J'ai payé par carte avant.”

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

Quiz: test yourself

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

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

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

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

    • A) payas
    • B) paya
    • C) payâtes
    • D) payèrent

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

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

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

    • A) paierai
    • B) paieras
    • C) paierez
    • D) paiera

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

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

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

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

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

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

  8. What is the gerund of payer?

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

  9. What is the past participle of payer?

    • A) payé
    • B) bu
    • C) dormi

  10. What does payer mean in English?

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

Answer key

  1. A) paie — The je form of payer in the present indicative is paie.
  2. B) paya — The il/elle form of payer in the passé simple is paya.
  3. B) payions — The nous form of payer in the imperfect is payions.
  4. B) paieras — The tu form of payer in the future is paieras.
  5. A) paierais — The je form of payer in the conditional is paierais.
  6. C) paie — The il/elle form of payer in the present subjunctive is paie.
  7. A) payasse — The je form of payer in the imperfect subjunctive is payasse.
  8. C) payant — The gerund of payer is en payant; it is used after en for actions in progress.
  9. A) payé — The past participle of payer is payé; perfect tenses use avoir + payé.
  10. B) pay — payer means “pay” in English.

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. It is a core everyday verb, so its present-tense forms are worth learning first.

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.

What are the gerund and past participle of payer?

The gerund is en payant — use it after en for actions in progress. The past participle is payé — use it with avoir for the perfect tenses, as in ai 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, and it is the form you will use most often.

What is the difference between payer and acheter?

payer means “pay” while acheter means “buy” — they describe different actions, so they are not interchangeable. Compare the full table for acheter and check the meaning in context before you choose.

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