Pouvoir: Examples, Sentences and Quiz in French
Introduction
Pouvoir means “to be able to, can”, and it is one of the most useful verbs in French — you will meet it in conversation, in books, in films and in every textbook. This page puts the verb to work: twelve example sentences across the tenses, a short dialogue you can act out, a tour of the verb in its most important tenses, the mistakes learners make most often, and a ten-question quiz with explained answers. Every form on this page comes from the verified conjugation tables for pouvoir, so you can trust what you read here. Start with the examples, say them aloud, and then test yourself with the quiz at the end.
Example sentences
Twelve sentences with pouvoir, in different tenses and with different subjects. Read the French first, guess the meaning, then check the English.
- “Je peux venir demain tous les jours.” — “I can come tomorrow every day.”
- “Tu peux m'aider ce soir tous les jours.” — “You can help me this evening every day.”
- “J'ai pu parler français cette semaine.” — “I have been able to speak French this week.”
- “Il pouvait venir demain autrefois.” — “He used to can come tomorrow in the past.”
- “Nous pourrons m'aider ce soir demain.” — “We will can help me this evening tomorrow.”
- “Tu as pu parler français cette semaine.” — “You have been able to speak French this week.”
- “Je pourrais venir demain un jour.” — “I would can come tomorrow one day.”
- “Il est important que il puisse m'aider ce soir.” — “It is important that he can help me this evening.”
- “Nous avions pu parler français avant la fête.” — “We had been able to speak French before the party.”
- “Il pourra venir demain demain.” — “He will can come tomorrow tomorrow.”
- “Ils peuvent m'aider ce soir tous les jours.” — “They can help me this evening every day.”
- “Tu peux parler français tous les jours.” — “You can speak French every day.”
A short dialogue
Marie and Pierre are talking about come tomorrow. Read the dialogue aloud, one voice per person, and notice how pouvoir changes with the tense and the subject. Every form of pouvoir below is taken from the verified tables.
Marie : Tu fais quoi, ce soir ? Pierre : “Je peux venir demain tous les jours.” — “I can come tomorrow every day.” Marie : Et demain ? Pierre : “Je pourrai m'aider ce soir demain.” — “I will can help me this evening tomorrow.” Marie : Tu as fait ça hier aussi ? Pierre : “J'ai pu parler français cette semaine.” — “I have been able to speak French this week.” Marie : Tu ferais ça un jour ? Pierre : “Je pourrais venir demain un jour.” — “I would can come tomorrow one day.”
Notice how the dialogue moves through time: the present for what is happening now, the future for tomorrow, the passé composé for yesterday, and the conditional for what someone would do one day. The verb stays the same — only the tense changes — and that is the whole point of learning a conjugation table: one verb, many moments.
Pouvoir in different tenses
The same verb does different jobs in different tenses. Here are the six uses of pouvoir that matter most, each with a sentence you can copy and adapt.
The present: habits and facts
In the present, pouvoir describes habits, facts and what is happening now. The je form is peux: “Je peux venir demain tous les jours.” — “I can come tomorrow every day.”
The imperfect: the past as it used to be
In the imperfect, pouvoir describes the past as it used to be — background, habit, an action in progress. The il form is pouvait: “Il pouvait m'aider ce soir autrefois.” — “He used to can help me this evening in the past.”
The passé composé: finished actions
In the passé composé, pouvoir reports one finished action, built with avoir plus the participle pu. The je form is ai pu: “J'ai pu parler français cette semaine.” — “I have been able to speak French this week.”
The future: what will happen
In the future, pouvoir talks about what will happen. The nous form is pourrons: “Nous pourrons venir demain demain.” — “We will can come tomorrow tomorrow.”
The conditional: what would happen
In the conditional, pouvoir talks about what would happen. The tu form is pourrais: “Tu pourrais m'aider ce soir un jour.” — “You would can help me this evening one day.”
The subjunctive: wishes and doubts
In the subjunctive, pouvoir appears after triggers such as il est important que. The form is puisse, and the sentence keeps the same complement as the other tenses: “Il est important que je puisse parler français.” — “It is important that I can speak French.”
Common mistakes
Using the infinitive instead of a conjugated form
✗ Wrong: “Je pouvoir venir demain.”
✓ Right: “Je peux venir demain.”
The infinitive pouvoir never takes a subject. After je you need the conjugated form peux.
Using the wrong person’s form
✗ Wrong: “Tu peux venir demain.”
✓ Right: “Tu peux venir demain.”
peux is the je form. With tu you need peux. Check the subject before you choose the form.
Using the present for a finished past action
✗ Wrong: “Je peux venir demain hier.”
✓ Right: “Je ai pu venir demain hier.”
The time word hier points to the past, so a finished action needs the passé composé ai pu, not the present.
Using the indicative after a subjunctive trigger
✗ Wrong: “Il est important que tu peux m'aider ce soir.”
✓ Right: “Il est important que tu puisses m'aider ce soir.”
After il est important que French needs the subjunctive: puisses, not the indicative peux.
Forgetting the auxiliary in the passé composé
✗ Wrong: “Je pu venir demain.”
✓ Right: “Je ai pu venir demain.”
The passé composé of pouvoir needs the auxiliary avoir plus the participle pu: the full je form is ai pu.
Quiz: test yourself
Ten questions on pouvoir. Choose the right answer, then check the answer key below.
What is the je form of pouvoir in the Present indicative?
- A) pouvons
- B) pouvez
- C) peux
- D) peut
What is the tu form of pouvoir in the Present indicative?
- A) pouvons
- B) pouvez
- C) peux
- D) peut
What is the il/elle form of pouvoir in the Present perfect (passé composé)?
- A) as pu
- B) avons pu
- C) a pu
- D) ai pu
What is the nous form of pouvoir in the Imperfect?
- A) pouviez
- B) pouvions
- C) pouvais
- D) pouvait
What is the tu form of pouvoir in the Future?
- A) pourras
- B) pourrai
- C) pourra
- D) pourrons
What is the je form of pouvoir in the Conditional?
- A) pourrait
- B) pourrions
- C) pourriez
- D) pourrais
What is the il/elle form of pouvoir in the Present subjunctive?
- A) puisses
- B) puissions
- C) puissiez
- D) puisse
What is the je form of pouvoir in the Pluperfect (plus-que-parfait)?
- A) avait pu
- B) avions pu
- C) aviez pu
- D) avais pu
What is the gerund of pouvoir?
- A) en pouvant
- B) en voulant
- C) en sachant
- D) en venant
What does pouvoir mean in English?
- A) to come
- B) to be able to, can
- C) to want
- D) to know
Answer key
- C) peux — the je form of pouvoir in the Present indicative is peux. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
- C) peux — the tu form of pouvoir in the Present indicative is peux. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
- C) a pu — the il/elle form of pouvoir in the Present perfect (passé composé) is a pu. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
- B) pouvions — the nous form of pouvoir in the Imperfect is pouvions. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
- A) pourras — the tu form of pouvoir in the Future is pourras. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
- D) pourrais — the je form of pouvoir in the Conditional is pourrais. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
- D) puisse — the il/elle form of pouvoir in the Present subjunctive is puisse. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
- D) avais pu — the je form of pouvoir in the Pluperfect (plus-que-parfait) is avais pu. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
- A) en pouvant — the gerund of pouvoir is en pouvant. The other options are the gerunds of neighbouring verbs.
- B) to be able to, can — pouvoir means “to be able to, can” in English. The other options are the meanings of neighbouring verbs.
Frequently asked questions
What does pouvoir mean in English?
pouvoir means “to be able to, can”. It is a core everyday verb, so its present-tense forms are worth learning first.
Is pouvoir regular or irregular?
pouvoir is irregular in these tenses: present, passe-simple, future, conditional, present-subjunctive, imperfect-subjunctive, imperative-affirmative, imperative-negative, gerund, past-participle. The gerund is pouvant and the past participle is pu.
How do I practise pouvoir every day?
Say one sentence with pouvoir in the present, one in the passé composé and one in the future every day, using the examples on this page as models — for example, “Je peux venir demain tous les jours.”, “J'ai pu venir demain cette semaine.” and “Je pourrai venir demain demain.”. Then take the quiz again and check your answers against the key.
Pronunciation
Pronunciation is not listed on this page: the verified tables do not include IPA for pouvoir, so no pronunciation is given rather than an invented one.
Related pages
- Full conjugation of pouvoir — every tense of pouvoir in one place.
- Pouvoir in the passé composé tense — the full table and usage rules for one tense.
- Pouvoir examples and quiz — more example sentences and practice questions for this verb.
- Vouloir conjugation — another everyday French verb.
- Savoir conjugation — another everyday French verb.
- Venir conjugation — another everyday French verb.
- French irregular verbs — every common irregular French verb, grouped by pattern.
- 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 Quiz — practise pouvoir with the interactive tool.
- Conjugation Practice — practise pouvoir with the interactive tool.
- Verb Translator — practise pouvoir with the interactive tool.