Préparer Conjugation in French
préparer means “to prepare” in English, and it is a verb French learners meet early and use often. This page gives you the complete conjugation of préparer — 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 prépare le dîner pour ma famille.” — “I prepare dinner for my family.” Learning the forms on this page first, before you try to use the verb in conversation, saves you from guessing later: French spelling and endings change with the person and the tense, and préparer is no exception. Work through the tables one tense at a time, say each form aloud, and then test yourself with the quiz at the end.
Quick facts
- Infinitive: préparer
- English: to prepare
- Verb type: Regular -er verb
- Irregular in: — (regular in every tense)
- Gerund: en préparant
- Past participle: préparé
- Auxiliary: avoir (all perfect tenses are formed with avoir + the past participle)
Pronunciation is not listed on this page: the verified tables do not include IPA for préparer, so no pronunciation is given rather than an invented one.
Full conjugation tables
Every form below comes from VerbFlow’s verified conjugation tables for préparer. 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 | prépare |
| tu | prépares |
| il/elle | prépare |
| nous | préparons |
| vous | préparez |
| ils/elles | préparent |
Passé simple
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| je | préparai |
| tu | préparas |
| il/elle | prépara |
| nous | préparâmes |
| vous | préparâtes |
| ils/elles | préparèrent |
Imperfect
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| je | préparais |
| tu | préparais |
| il/elle | préparait |
| nous | préparions |
| vous | prépariez |
| ils/elles | préparaient |
Future
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| je | préparerai |
| tu | prépareras |
| il/elle | préparera |
| nous | préparerons |
| vous | préparerez |
| ils/elles | prépareront |
Conditional
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| je | préparerais |
| tu | préparerais |
| il/elle | préparerait |
| nous | préparerions |
| vous | prépareriez |
| ils/elles | prépareraient |
Present perfect (passé composé)
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| je | ai préparé |
| tu | as préparé |
| il/elle | a préparé |
| nous | avons préparé |
| vous | avez préparé |
| ils/elles | ont préparé |
Pluperfect (plus-que-parfait)
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| je | avais préparé |
| tu | avais préparé |
| il/elle | avait préparé |
| nous | avions préparé |
| vous | aviez préparé |
| ils/elles | avaient préparé |
Future perfect
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| je | aurai préparé |
| tu | auras préparé |
| il/elle | aura préparé |
| nous | aurons préparé |
| vous | aurez préparé |
| ils/elles | auront préparé |
Conditional perfect
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| je | aurais préparé |
| tu | aurais préparé |
| il/elle | aurait préparé |
| nous | aurions préparé |
| vous | auriez préparé |
| ils/elles | auraient préparé |
Present subjunctive
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| je | prépare |
| tu | prépares |
| il/elle | prépare |
| nous | préparions |
| vous | prépariez |
| ils/elles | préparent |
Imperfect subjunctive
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| je | préparasse |
| tu | préparasses |
| il/elle | préparât |
| nous | préparassions |
| vous | préparassiez |
| ils/elles | préparassent |
Imperative (affirmative)
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| tu | prépare |
| nous | préparons |
| vous | préparez |
Imperative (negative)
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| tu | prépare |
| nous | préparons |
| vous | préparez |
Gerund and past participle
| Form | French |
|---|---|
| Gerund | en préparant |
| Past participle | préparé |
When to use each tense
Present indicative
The present indicative is used for habits, facts and things happening now. For example: “Je prépare le dîner pour ma famille.” — “I prepare dinner for my family.”
Passé simple
The passé simple is used for completed actions in the past, mainly in written and literary French. For example: “Tu préparas le dîner pour ma famille.” — “You prepared dinner for my family one day.”
Imperfect
The imperfect is used for ongoing or habitual actions in the past, and background description. For example: “Il préparait le dîner pour ma famille quand j’étais jeune.” — “He used to prepare dinner for my family.”
Future
The future is used for what will happen, predictions and promises. For example: “Nous préparerons le dîner pour ma famille.” — “We will prepare dinner for my family tomorrow.”
Conditional
The conditional is used for what would happen, polite requests and hypothetical situations. For example: “Vous prépareriez le dîner pour ma famille.” — “You would prepare dinner for my family if you could.”
Present perfect (passé composé)
The present perfect (passé composé) is used for recent past actions and completed events. With préparer it is formed with avoir + the past participle préparé. For example: “Ils ont préparé le dîner pour ma famille hier.” — “They have prepared dinner for my family.”
Pluperfect (plus-que-parfait)
The pluperfect (plus-que-parfait) is used for an action completed before another past action. For example: “J'avais préparé le dîner pour ma famille avant la fête.” — “I had prepared dinner for my family before the party.”
Future perfect
The future perfect is used for what will have happened by a point in the future. For example: “Tu auras préparé le dîner pour ma famille.” — “You will have prepared dinner for my family by tomorrow evening.”
Conditional perfect
The conditional perfect is used for what would have happened in a different past. For example: “Il aurait préparé le dîner pour ma famille.” — “He would have prepared dinner for my family if he had been able to.”
Present subjunctive
The present subjunctive is used for wishes, doubts, emotions and opinions after que. For example: “Il faut que je prépare le dîner pour ma famille.” — “It is important that I prepare dinner for my family.”
Imperfect subjunctive
The imperfect subjunctive is used for the past subjunctive: wishes and hypotheticals about the past, mainly in formal writing. For example: “Il fallait que je préparasse le dîner pour ma famille.” — “It was important that I prepare dinner for my family.”
Imperative (affirmative)
The imperative (affirmative) is used for direct commands and instructions. For example: “Prépare le dîner pour ma famille !” — “Prepare dinner for my family!”
Imperative (negative)
The imperative (negative) is used for prohibitions and negative commands. For example: “Prépare le dîner pour ma famille !” — “Do not prepare dinner for my family!”
Gerund and past participle
The gerund is en préparant — “while preparing” — used after en to say how something happens. The past participle is préparé, used with avoir for the perfect tenses, as in ai préparé.
Example sentences
Ten natural sentences with préparer, covering different tenses and persons. Say each one aloud, then cover the French and try to produce it from the English.
- “Je prépare le dîner pour ma famille.” — “I prepare dinner for my family.”
- “Tu prépares le dîner pour ma famille.” — “You prepare dinner for my family.”
- “Il préparait le dîner pour ma famille.” — “He used to prepare dinner for my family.”
- “Nous préparerons le dîner pour ma famille.” — “We will prepare dinner for my family tomorrow.”
- “Je préparerais le dîner pour ma famille.” — “I would prepare dinner for my family if I could.”
- “Tu as préparé le dîner pour ma famille.” — “You have prepared dinner for my family.”
- “Il avait préparé le dîner pour ma famille.” — “He had prepared dinner for my family before the party.”
- “Nous aurons préparé le dîner pour ma famille.” — “We will have prepared dinner for my family by tomorrow evening.”
- “Il faut que je prépare le dîner pour ma famille.” — “It is important that I prepare dinner for my family.”
- “Prépare le dîner pour ma famille !” — “Prepare dinner for my family!”
Common mistakes
1. Using the infinitive instead of a conjugated form
✗ Wrong: “Je préparer le dîner pour ma famille.”
✓ Right: “Je prépare le dîner pour ma famille.”
The infinitive préparer never takes a subject. After je you need the conjugated present form prépare.
2. Confusing préparer with pratiquer
✗ Wrong: “Je prépare le piano chaque soir.” (meant as “pratiquer”)
✓ Right: “Je prépare le dîner pour ma famille.”
préparer means “to prepare”; pratiquer means “to practise”. Keep the two verbs apart by their meaning, not by their sound.
3. Using the wrong auxiliary for the passé composé
✗ Wrong: “Je suis préparé le dîner pour ma famille.”
✓ Right: “J'ai préparé le dîner pour ma famille.”
With préparer the passé composé is formed with avoir, not être: ai préparé.
4. Using the indicative after a subjunctive trigger
✗ Wrong: “Il faut que je prépare le dîner pour ma famille.”
✓ Right: “Il faut que je prépare le dîner pour ma famille.”
After il faut que French needs the subjunctive, so use prépare here, not the indicative prépare.
5. Using the present for a finished past event
✗ Wrong: “Je prépare le dîner pour ma famille hier.”
✓ Right: “J'ai préparé le dîner pour ma famille hier.”
Yesterday’s finished event needs the passé composé (ai préparé), not the present.
Quiz: test yourself
What is the je form of préparer in the Present indicative?
- A) prépares
- B) préparons
- C) préparez
- D) prépare
What is the ils/elles form of préparer in the Present indicative?
- A) préparent
- B) prépare
- C) préparons
- D) préparez
What is the il/elle form of préparer in the Passé simple?
- A) préparas
- B) prépara
- C) préparâmes
- D) préparèrent
What is the nous form of préparer in the Imperfect?
- A) préparais
- B) préparions
- C) préparaient
- D) prépariez
What is the tu form of préparer in the Future?
- A) prépareront
- B) prépareras
- C) préparerons
- D) préparera
What is the je form of préparer in the Conditional?
- A) prépareraient
- B) préparerions
- C) préparerais
- D) prépareriez
What is the il/elle form of préparer in the Present perfect (passé composé)?
- A) a préparé
- B) ai préparé
- C) avez préparé
- D) as préparé
What is the vous form of préparer in the Pluperfect (plus-que-parfait)?
- A) avais préparé
- B) avaient préparé
- C) aviez préparé
- D) avions préparé
What is the gerund of préparer?
- A) prépare
- B) préparerai
- C) en préparant
- D) préparé
What is the past participle of préparer?
- A) prépare
- B) en préparant
- C) préparé
- D) préparais
Answer key
- D) prépare — the je form of préparer in the present indicative is prépare.
- A) préparent — the ils/elles form of préparer in the present indicative is préparent.
- B) prépara — the il/elle form of préparer in the passé simple is prépara.
- B) préparions — the nous form of préparer in the imperfect is préparions.
- B) prépareras — the tu form of préparer in the future is prépareras.
- C) préparerais — the je form of préparer in the conditional is préparerais.
- A) a préparé — the il/elle form of préparer in the present perfect (passé composé) is a préparé.
- C) aviez préparé — the vous form of préparer in the pluperfect (plus-que-parfait) is aviez préparé.
- C) en préparant — the gerund of préparer is en préparant; it is used after en for actions in progress.
- C) préparé — the past participle of préparer is préparé; perfect tenses use avoir + préparé.
Frequently asked questions
What does préparer mean in English?
préparer means “to prepare”. You use it in everyday situations like the examples on this page — for example, “Je prépare le dîner pour ma famille.” (“I prepare dinner for my family.”). It is a core everyday verb, so its present-tense forms are worth learning first.
Is préparer regular or irregular?
préparer is regular: its endings follow the standard -er pattern in every tense. The gerund is en préparant and the past participle is préparé.
What are the gerund and past participle of préparer?
The gerund is en préparant — use it after en for actions in progress. The past participle is préparé — use it with avoir for the perfect tenses, as in ai préparé.
What is the difference between préparer and pratiquer?
préparer means “to prepare”, while pratiquer means “to practise”. They are easy to mix up because they appear in similar situations, but their meanings are different. If you are unsure, check the full conjugation page for pratiquer and compare the meanings in context.
How do I say “I prepare” in French?
Say “Je prépare le dîner pour ma famille.” — “I prepare dinner for my family.” The je form of the present is prépare, and it is the form you will use most often.
How to learn préparer
Start with the present tense: prépare, prépares, prépare, préparons, préparez, préparent. Say them in order every day for a week, then add the passé composé — ai préparé — and the imperfect — préparais. Next, learn the future (préparerai) and the conditional (préparerais), which share the same stem. Finally, tackle the subjunctive (prépare) and the imperative (prépare). Write one sentence of your own in each tense, using the examples above as models, and check every form against the tables. When you can produce all six persons of the present without looking, move on to the present-tense quiz.
Related pages
- préparer in the present tense — the full table and uses for this verb in the present tense.
- préparer examples and quiz — more example sentences and practice questions for this verb.
- French verbs — the full hub of French conjugation pages.
- French present tense guide — how this tense works for regular verbs.
- Pratiquer conjugation — another French verb to practise with.
- Couter conjugation — another French verb to practise with.
- Spanish verbs — the full hub of Spanish conjugation pages.
- Verb Conjugator — practise préparer with the interactive tool.
- Verb Quiz — practise préparer with the interactive tool.
- Present Tense Conjugator — practise the present tense with the interactive tool.
- VerbFlow home — back to the start.