Raconter Conjugation in French
raconter means “to tell (a story)” in English, and it is a verb French learners meet early and use often. This page gives you the complete conjugation of raconter — 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 raconte une histoire à mes enfants.” — “I tell a story to my children.” 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 raconter 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: raconter
- English: to tell (a story)
- Verb type: Regular -er verb
- Irregular in: — (regular in every tense)
- Gerund: en racontant
- Past participle: raconté
- 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 raconter, so no pronunciation is given rather than an invented one.
Full conjugation tables
Every form below comes from VerbFlow’s verified conjugation tables for raconter. 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 | raconte |
| tu | racontes |
| il/elle | raconte |
| nous | racontons |
| vous | racontez |
| ils/elles | racontent |
Passé simple
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| je | racontai |
| tu | racontas |
| il/elle | raconta |
| nous | racontâmes |
| vous | racontâtes |
| ils/elles | racontèrent |
Imperfect
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| je | racontais |
| tu | racontais |
| il/elle | racontait |
| nous | racontions |
| vous | racontiez |
| ils/elles | racontaient |
Future
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| je | raconterai |
| tu | raconteras |
| il/elle | racontera |
| nous | raconterons |
| vous | raconterez |
| ils/elles | raconteront |
Conditional
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| je | raconterais |
| tu | raconterais |
| il/elle | raconterait |
| nous | raconterions |
| vous | raconteriez |
| ils/elles | raconteraient |
Present perfect (passé composé)
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| je | ai raconté |
| tu | as raconté |
| il/elle | a raconté |
| nous | avons raconté |
| vous | avez raconté |
| ils/elles | ont raconté |
Pluperfect (plus-que-parfait)
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| je | avais raconté |
| tu | avais raconté |
| il/elle | avait raconté |
| nous | avions raconté |
| vous | aviez raconté |
| ils/elles | avaient raconté |
Future perfect
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| je | aurai raconté |
| tu | auras raconté |
| il/elle | aura raconté |
| nous | aurons raconté |
| vous | aurez raconté |
| ils/elles | auront raconté |
Conditional perfect
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| je | aurais raconté |
| tu | aurais raconté |
| il/elle | aurait raconté |
| nous | aurions raconté |
| vous | auriez raconté |
| ils/elles | auraient raconté |
Present subjunctive
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| je | raconte |
| tu | racontes |
| il/elle | raconte |
| nous | racontions |
| vous | racontiez |
| ils/elles | racontent |
Imperfect subjunctive
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| je | racontasse |
| tu | racontasses |
| il/elle | racontât |
| nous | racontassions |
| vous | racontassiez |
| ils/elles | racontassent |
Imperative (affirmative)
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| tu | raconte |
| nous | racontons |
| vous | racontez |
Imperative (negative)
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| tu | raconte |
| nous | racontons |
| vous | racontez |
Gerund and past participle
| Form | French |
|---|---|
| Gerund | en racontant |
| Past participle | raconté |
When to use each tense
Present indicative
The present indicative is used for habits, facts and things happening now. For example: “Je raconte une histoire à mes enfants.” — “I tell a story to my children.”
Passé simple
The passé simple is used for completed actions in the past, mainly in written and literary French. For example: “Tu racontas une histoire à mes enfants.” — “You told a story to my children one day.”
Imperfect
The imperfect is used for ongoing or habitual actions in the past, and background description. For example: “Il racontait une histoire à mes enfants quand j’étais jeune.” — “He used to tell a story to my children.”
Future
The future is used for what will happen, predictions and promises. For example: “Nous raconterons une histoire à mes enfants.” — “We will tell a story to my children tomorrow.”
Conditional
The conditional is used for what would happen, polite requests and hypothetical situations. For example: “Vous raconteriez une histoire à mes enfants.” — “You would tell a story to my children if you could.”
Present perfect (passé composé)
The present perfect (passé composé) is used for recent past actions and completed events. With raconter it is formed with avoir + the past participle raconté. For example: “Ils ont raconté une histoire à mes enfants hier.” — “They have told a story to my children.”
Pluperfect (plus-que-parfait)
The pluperfect (plus-que-parfait) is used for an action completed before another past action. For example: “J'avais raconté une histoire à mes enfants avant la fête.” — “I had told a story to my children 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 raconté une histoire à mes enfants.” — “You will have told a story to my children by tomorrow evening.”
Conditional perfect
The conditional perfect is used for what would have happened in a different past. For example: “Il aurait raconté une histoire à mes enfants.” — “He would have told a story to my children 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 raconte une histoire à mes enfants.” — “It is important that I tell a story to my children.”
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 racontasse une histoire à mes enfants.” — “It was important that I tell a story to my children.”
Imperative (affirmative)
The imperative (affirmative) is used for direct commands and instructions. For example: “Raconte une histoire à mes enfants !” — “Tell a story to my children!”
Imperative (negative)
The imperative (negative) is used for prohibitions and negative commands. For example: “Raconte une histoire à mes enfants !” — “Do not tell a story to my children!”
Gerund and past participle
The gerund is en racontant — “while telling” — used after en to say how something happens. The past participle is raconté, used with avoir for the perfect tenses, as in ai raconté.
Example sentences
Ten natural sentences with raconter, covering different tenses and persons. Say each one aloud, then cover the French and try to produce it from the English.
- “Je raconte une histoire à mes enfants.” — “I tell a story to my children.”
- “Tu racontes une histoire à mes enfants.” — “You tell a story to my children.”
- “Il racontait une histoire à mes enfants.” — “He used to tell a story to my children.”
- “Nous raconterons une histoire à mes enfants.” — “We will tell a story to my children tomorrow.”
- “Je raconterais une histoire à mes enfants.” — “I would tell a story to my children if I could.”
- “Tu as raconté une histoire à mes enfants.” — “You have told a story to my children.”
- “Il avait raconté une histoire à mes enfants.” — “He had told a story to my children before the party.”
- “Nous aurons raconté une histoire à mes enfants.” — “We will have told a story to my children by tomorrow evening.”
- “Il faut que je raconte une histoire à mes enfants.” — “It is important that I tell a story to my children.”
- “Raconte une histoire à mes enfants !” — “Tell a story to my children!”
Common mistakes
1. Using the infinitive instead of a conjugated form
✗ Wrong: “Je raconter une histoire à mes enfants.”
✓ Right: “Je raconte une histoire à mes enfants.”
The infinitive raconter never takes a subject. After je you need the conjugated present form raconte.
2. Confusing raconter with expliquer
✗ Wrong: “Je raconte la leçon à mes élèves.” (meant as “expliquer”)
✓ Right: “Je raconte une histoire à mes enfants.”
raconter means “to tell (a story)”; expliquer means “to explain”. Keep the two verbs apart by their meaning, not by their sound.
3. Using the wrong auxiliary for the passé composé
✗ Wrong: “Je suis raconté une histoire à mes enfants.”
✓ Right: “J'ai raconté une histoire à mes enfants.”
With raconter the passé composé is formed with avoir, not être: ai raconté.
4. Using the indicative after a subjunctive trigger
✗ Wrong: “Il faut que je raconte une histoire à mes enfants.”
✓ Right: “Il faut que je raconte une histoire à mes enfants.”
After il faut que French needs the subjunctive, so use raconte here, not the indicative raconte.
5. Using the present for a finished past event
✗ Wrong: “Je raconte une histoire à mes enfants hier.”
✓ Right: “J'ai raconté une histoire à mes enfants hier.”
Yesterday’s finished event needs the passé composé (ai raconté), not the present.
Quiz: test yourself
What is the je form of raconter in the Present indicative?
- A) raconte
- B) racontes
- C) racontez
- D) racontons
What is the ils/elles form of raconter in the Present indicative?
- A) racontes
- B) racontons
- C) raconte
- D) racontent
What is the il/elle form of raconter in the Passé simple?
- A) racontâtes
- B) racontâmes
- C) raconta
- D) racontèrent
What is the nous form of raconter in the Imperfect?
- A) racontait
- B) racontions
- C) racontaient
- D) racontais
What is the tu form of raconter in the Future?
- A) raconteras
- B) raconteront
- C) raconterons
- D) raconterez
What is the je form of raconter in the Conditional?
- A) raconterais
- B) raconterait
- C) raconteraient
- D) raconteriez
What is the il/elle form of raconter in the Present perfect (passé composé)?
- A) avons raconté
- B) a raconté
- C) ai raconté
- D) avez raconté
What is the vous form of raconter in the Pluperfect (plus-que-parfait)?
- A) aviez raconté
- B) avais raconté
- C) avait raconté
- D) avions raconté
What is the gerund of raconter?
- A) raconté
- B) raconte
- C) raconterai
- D) en racontant
What is the past participle of raconter?
- A) raconte
- B) raconté
- C) en racontant
- D) racontais
Answer key
- A) raconte — the je form of raconter in the present indicative is raconte.
- D) racontent — the ils/elles form of raconter in the present indicative is racontent.
- C) raconta — the il/elle form of raconter in the passé simple is raconta.
- B) racontions — the nous form of raconter in the imperfect is racontions.
- A) raconteras — the tu form of raconter in the future is raconteras.
- A) raconterais — the je form of raconter in the conditional is raconterais.
- B) a raconté — the il/elle form of raconter in the present perfect (passé composé) is a raconté.
- A) aviez raconté — the vous form of raconter in the pluperfect (plus-que-parfait) is aviez raconté.
- D) en racontant — the gerund of raconter is en racontant; it is used after en for actions in progress.
- B) raconté — the past participle of raconter is raconté; perfect tenses use avoir + raconté.
Frequently asked questions
What does raconter mean in English?
raconter means “to tell (a story)”. You use it in everyday situations like the examples on this page — for example, “Je raconte une histoire à mes enfants.” (“I tell a story to my children.”). It is a core everyday verb, so its present-tense forms are worth learning first.
Is raconter regular or irregular?
raconter is regular: its endings follow the standard -er pattern in every tense. The gerund is en racontant and the past participle is raconté.
What are the gerund and past participle of raconter?
The gerund is en racontant — use it after en for actions in progress. The past participle is raconté — use it with avoir for the perfect tenses, as in ai raconté.
What is the difference between raconter and expliquer?
raconter means “to tell (a story)”, while expliquer means “to explain”. 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 expliquer and compare the meanings in context.
How do I say “I tell” in French?
Say “Je raconte une histoire à mes enfants.” — “I tell a story to my children.” The je form of the present is raconte, and it is the form you will use most often.
How to learn raconter
Start with the present tense: raconte, racontes, raconte, racontons, racontez, racontent. Say them in order every day for a week, then add the passé composé — ai raconté — and the imperfect — racontais. Next, learn the future (raconterai) and the conditional (raconterais), which share the same stem. Finally, tackle the subjunctive (raconte) and the imperative (raconte). 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
- raconter in the present tense — the full table and uses for this verb in the present tense.
- raconter 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.
- Expliquer conjugation — another French verb to practise with.
- Discuter conjugation — another French verb to practise with.
- Spanish verbs — the full hub of Spanish conjugation pages.
- Verb Conjugator — practise raconter with the interactive tool.
- Verb Quiz — practise raconter with the interactive tool.
- Present Tense Conjugator — practise the present tense with the interactive tool.
- VerbFlow home — back to the start.