Porter Conjugation in French
porter means “to carry, to wear” in English, and it is one of the first verbs French learners meet — it sits at number 23 in VerbFlow’s frequency list for French verbs. You use it whenever you talk about carrying a coat in winter, and 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 porter — 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 porte un manteau en hiver tous les jours.” — “I carry a coat in winter every day.”
Quick facts
- Infinitive: porter
- English: to carry, to wear
- Verb type: Regular
- Irregular in: none — regular in every tense
- Gerund: portant
- Past participle: porté
- Auxiliary: avoir (all perfect tenses are formed with avoir + the past participle)
- Ending: -er verbs; pattern er in the verified tables
Pronunciation
Pronunciation is not listed on this page: the verified tables do not include IPA for porter, so no pronunciation is given rather than an invented one. Learn the spelling of the forms first, and listen to a native speaker for the sounds rather than trusting an invented transcription. The forms below are the ones that matter: once you can read porter in every tense, you can recognise it in speech even before you can pronounce every form perfectly.
Three things to remember about porter
- It is regular: every form follows the ordinary -er pattern, so once you know the stem you can build the whole table. The only work is learning the endings, not memorising exceptions.
- The perfect tenses use avoir: the present perfect is formed with avoir in the present plus the past participle porté. The tables on this page give the participle in the masculine singular form, exactly as it appears in the verified dump; agreement with the subject is a separate step that depends on the sentence, not on the verb table.
- The gerund is portant and the participle is porté: keep both in mind as you read the tables, because the gerund appears in progressive constructions and the participle appears in every perfect tense. If you know those two forms and the present tense, you already know the skeleton of the whole conjugation.
Full conjugation tables
Every form below comes from VerbFlow’s verified conjugation tables for porter. 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 | porte |
| tu | portes |
| il/elle | porte |
| nous | portons |
| vous | portez |
| ils/elles | portent |
The present indicative is used for habits, facts and things happening now. For example: “Je porte des lunettes tous les jours tous les jours.” — “I carry glasses every day every day.”
Passé simple
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| je | portai |
| tu | portas |
| il/elle | porta |
| nous | portâmes |
| vous | portâtes |
| ils/elles | portèrent |
The passé simple is used for completed actions in the past, mostly in written and literary French. For example: “Tu portas des lunettes tous les jours hier.” — “You carried glasses every day yesterday.”
Imperfect
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| je | portais |
| tu | portais |
| il/elle | portait |
| nous | portions |
| vous | portiez |
| ils/elles | portaient |
The imperfect is used for ongoing or habitual actions in the past, and for background description. For example: “Il portait des lunettes tous les jours autrefois.” — “He used to carry glasses every day in the past.”
Future
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| je | porterai |
| tu | porteras |
| il/elle | portera |
| nous | porterons |
| vous | porterez |
| ils/elles | porteront |
The future is used for what will happen, for predictions and for probability. For example: “Je porterai des lunettes tous les jours demain.” — “I will carry glasses every day tomorrow.”
Conditional
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| je | porterais |
| tu | porterais |
| il/elle | porterait |
| nous | porterions |
| vous | porteriez |
| ils/elles | porteraient |
The conditional is used for what would happen, for polite requests and for hypothetical situations. For example: “Tu porterais des lunettes tous les jours un jour.” — “You would carry glasses every day one day.”
Present perfect (passé composé)
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| je | ai porté |
| tu | as porté |
| il/elle | a porté |
| nous | avons porté |
| vous | avez porté |
| ils/elles | ont porté |
The present perfect (passé composé) is used for completed actions in the past, especially in spoken French. For example: “Il a porté des lunettes tous les jours cette semaine.” — “He has carried glasses every day this week.”
Pluperfect (plus-que-parfait)
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| je | avais porté |
| tu | avais porté |
| il/elle | avait porté |
| nous | avions porté |
| vous | aviez porté |
| ils/elles | avaient porté |
The pluperfect (plus-que-parfait) is used for an action completed before another past action. For example: “J'avais porté des lunettes tous les jours avant la fête.” — “I had carried glasses every day before the party.”
Future perfect
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| je | aurai porté |
| tu | auras porté |
| il/elle | aura porté |
| nous | aurons porté |
| vous | aurez porté |
| ils/elles | auront porté |
The future perfect is used for what will have happened by a point in the future. For example: “Tu auras porté des lunettes tous les jours pour demain.” — “You will have carried glasses every day by tomorrow.”
Conditional perfect
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| je | aurais porté |
| tu | aurais porté |
| il/elle | aurait porté |
| nous | aurions porté |
| vous | auriez porté |
| ils/elles | auraient porté |
The conditional perfect is used for what would have happened in a different past. For example: “Il aurait porté des lunettes tous les jours hier.” — “He would have carried glasses every day yesterday.”
Present subjunctive
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| je | porte |
| tu | portes |
| il/elle | porte |
| nous | portions |
| vous | portiez |
| ils/elles | portent |
The present subjunctive is used for wishes, doubts, emotions and opinions after que. For example: “Il est important que je porte des lunettes tous les jours.” — “It is important that I carry glasses every day.”
Imperfect subjunctive
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| je | portasse |
| tu | portasses |
| il/elle | portât |
| nous | portassions |
| vous | portassiez |
| ils/elles | portassent |
The imperfect subjunctive is used in formal written French for past wishes and hypotheticals after que. For example: “Il est important que tu portasses des lunettes tous les jours.” — “It is important that you carry glasses every day.”
Imperative (affirmative)
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| tu | porte |
| nous | portons |
| vous | portez |
The imperative (affirmative) is used for direct commands and instructions. For example: “Porte des lunettes tous les jours !” — “Carry glasses every day!”
Imperative (negative)
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| tu | porte |
| nous | portons |
| vous | portez |
The imperative (negative) is used for prohibitions and negative commands. For example: “Ne porte pas des lunettes tous les jours.” — “Do not carry glasses every day.”
Gerund
| Form | French |
|---|---|
| Gerund | en portant |
The gerund is used for an action happening at the same time as another action, usually after en. For example: “En portant un manteau en hiver, je passe un bon moment.” — “While carrying a coat in winter, I have a good time.”
Past participle
| Form | French |
|---|---|
| Past participle | porté |
The past participle is used with an auxiliary to form the perfect tenses, and as an adjective. For example: “J'ai porté un manteau en hiver cette semaine.” — “I have carried a coat in winter this week.”
Example sentences
Ten natural sentences with porter, covering different tenses and persons. Say each one aloud, then cover the French and try to produce it from the English.
- “Je porte un manteau en hiver tous les jours.” — “I carry a coat in winter every day.”
- “Tu portas des lunettes tous les jours hier.” — “You carried glasses every day yesterday.”
- “Il portait une robe rouge ce soir autrefois.” — “He used to carry a red dress this evening in the past.”
- “Je porterai un manteau en hiver demain.” — “I will carry a coat in winter tomorrow.”
- “Tu porterais des lunettes tous les jours un jour.” — “You would carry glasses every day one day.”
- “Il a porté une robe rouge ce soir cette semaine.” — “He has carried a red dress this evening this week.”
- “J'avais porté un manteau en hiver avant la fête.” — “I had carried a coat in winter before the party.”
- “Tu auras porté des lunettes tous les jours pour demain.” — “You will have carried glasses every day by tomorrow.”
- “Il est important que il porte une robe rouge ce soir.” — “It is important that he carry a red dress this evening.”
- “Porte un manteau en hiver !” — “Carry a coat in winter!”
Common mistakes
1. Using the infinitive instead of a conjugated form
✗ Wrong: “Je porter un manteau en hiver.”
✓ Right: “Je porte un manteau en hiver.”
The infinitive porter never takes a subject. After je you need the conjugated present form porte.
2. Using the wrong person’s form
✗ Wrong: “Je portent un manteau en hiver.”
✓ Right: “Je porte un manteau en hiver.”
portent is the ils/elles form, not the je form. Match the verb to the subject every time: je goes with porte.
3. Using the passé simple for a present habit
✗ Wrong: “Je portai un manteau en hiver tous les jours.”
✓ Right: “Je porte un manteau en hiver tous les jours.”
The passé simple portai describes one finished past action. For something that happens every day, use the present porte.
4. Using the indicative after a subjunctive trigger
✗ Wrong: “Il est important que je porte un manteau en hiver.”
✓ Right: “Il est important que je porte un manteau en hiver.”
After il est important que French needs the subjunctive, so use porte here, not the indicative porte.
5. Using the wrong auxiliary in the passé composé
✗ Wrong: “Je suis porté un manteau en hiver.”
✓ Right: “Je ai porté un manteau en hiver.”
The passé composé of porter is formed with avoir plus the past participle porté: the je form is ai porté. Check the auxiliary in the table above before you build a perfect tense.
6. Dropping a written accent
✗ Wrong: “porte” written without its accent
✓ Right: “porte”
Accents are part of the spelling in French. Write the form exactly as it appears in the table, accent included, or it looks like a different word.
Quiz: test yourself
Ten questions on porter. Choose the right form, then check the answer key below.
What is the je form of porter in the Present indicative?
- A) portons
- B) portez
- C) porte
- D) portes
What is the il/elle form of porter in the Passé simple?
- A) portas
- B) portâmes
- C) porta
- D) portai
What is the nous form of porter in the Imperfect?
- A) portait
- B) portiez
- C) portions
- D) portais
What is the tu form of porter in the Future?
- A) porteras
- B) porterai
- C) portera
- D) porterons
What is the je form of porter in the Conditional?
- A) porterait
- B) porterions
- C) porteriez
- D) porterais
What is the il/elle form of porter in the Present perfect (passé composé)?
- A) avons porté
- B) a porté
- C) ai porté
- D) as porté
What is the il/elle form of porter in the Present subjunctive?
- A) portions
- B) portiez
- C) porte
- D) portes
What is the je form of porter in the Imperfect subjunctive?
- A) portasses
- B) portât
- C) portassions
- D) portasse
What is the gerund of porter?
- A) en pensant
- B) en portant
- C) en laissant
- D) en suivant
What does porter mean in English?
- A) to follow
- B) to think
- C) to carry, to wear
- D) to leave, to let
Answer key
- C) porte — the je form of porter in the Present indicative is porte. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
- C) porta — the il/elle form of porter in the Passé simple is porta. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
- C) portions — the nous form of porter in the Imperfect is portions. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
- A) porteras — the tu form of porter in the Future is porteras. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
- D) porterais — the je form of porter in the Conditional is porterais. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
- B) a porté — the il/elle form of porter in the Present perfect (passé composé) is a porté. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
- C) porte — the il/elle form of porter in the Present subjunctive is porte. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
- D) portasse — the je form of porter in the Imperfect subjunctive is portasse. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
- B) en portant — the gerund of porter is en portant; it is used after en for actions happening at the same time as another action. The other options are the gerunds of neighbouring verbs.
- C) to carry, to wear — porter means “to carry, to wear” in English. The other options are the meanings of neighbouring verbs.
Frequently asked questions
What does porter mean in English?
porter means “to carry, to wear”. It is a core everyday verb, so its present-tense forms are worth learning first.
Is porter regular or irregular?
porter is regular: it follows the ordinary -er pattern in every tense. The gerund is portant and the past participle is porté.
What are the gerund and past participle of porter?
The gerund is portant — use it after en for an action happening at the same time as another action. The past participle is porté — use it with avoir for the perfect tenses, as in ai porté.
Which auxiliary does porter take in the passé composé?
porter takes avoir in the passé composé: the je form is ai porté. All four perfect tenses on this page are built with avoir plus the past participle porté.
How do I say “I carry” in French?
Say “Je porte un manteau en hiver tous les jours.” — “I carry a coat in winter every day.” The je form of the present is porte, and it is the form you will use most often.
Related pages
- Full conjugation of porter — every tense of porter in one place.
- Porter in the present tense — the full table and usage rules for one tense.
- Porter examples and quiz — more example sentences and practice questions for this verb.
- Laisser conjugation — another everyday French verb.
- Suivre conjugation — another everyday French verb.
- Penser conjugation — another everyday French verb.
- French verbs — the full hub of French conjugation pages.
- Spanish verbs — the full hub of Spanish conjugation pages.
- VerbFlow home — all languages, tools and verb lists.
- Spanish Verb Conjugator — practise porter with the interactive tool.
- Conjugation Chart Printer — practise porter with the interactive tool.
- Tense Finder — practise porter with the interactive tool.