Reculer Conjugation in French
reculer means “to reverse” in English, and it is a verb French learners meet early and use often. This page gives you the complete conjugation of reculer — 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 recule d’un pas prudent.” — “I step back cautiously.” 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 reculer 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: reculer
- English: to reverse
- Verb type: Regular -er verb
- Irregular in: — (regular in every tense)
- Gerund: en reculant
- Past participle: reculé
- 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 reculer, so no pronunciation is given rather than an invented one.
Full conjugation tables
Every form below comes from VerbFlow’s verified conjugation tables for reculer. 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 | recule |
| tu | recules |
| il/elle | recule |
| nous | reculons |
| vous | reculez |
| ils/elles | reculent |
Passé simple
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| je | reculai |
| tu | reculas |
| il/elle | recula |
| nous | reculâmes |
| vous | reculâtes |
| ils/elles | reculèrent |
Imperfect
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| je | reculais |
| tu | reculais |
| il/elle | reculait |
| nous | reculions |
| vous | reculiez |
| ils/elles | reculaient |
Future
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| je | reculerai |
| tu | reculeras |
| il/elle | reculera |
| nous | reculerons |
| vous | reculerez |
| ils/elles | reculeront |
Conditional
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| je | reculerais |
| tu | reculerais |
| il/elle | reculerait |
| nous | reculerions |
| vous | reculeriez |
| ils/elles | reculeraient |
Present perfect (passé composé)
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| je | ai reculé |
| tu | as reculé |
| il/elle | a reculé |
| nous | avons reculé |
| vous | avez reculé |
| ils/elles | ont reculé |
Pluperfect (plus-que-parfait)
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| je | avais reculé |
| tu | avais reculé |
| il/elle | avait reculé |
| nous | avions reculé |
| vous | aviez reculé |
| ils/elles | avaient reculé |
Future perfect
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| je | aurai reculé |
| tu | auras reculé |
| il/elle | aura reculé |
| nous | aurons reculé |
| vous | aurez reculé |
| ils/elles | auront reculé |
Conditional perfect
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| je | aurais reculé |
| tu | aurais reculé |
| il/elle | aurait reculé |
| nous | aurions reculé |
| vous | auriez reculé |
| ils/elles | auraient reculé |
Present subjunctive
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| je | recule |
| tu | recules |
| il/elle | recule |
| nous | reculions |
| vous | reculiez |
| ils/elles | reculent |
Imperfect subjunctive
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| je | reculasse |
| tu | reculasses |
| il/elle | reculât |
| nous | reculassions |
| vous | reculassiez |
| ils/elles | reculassent |
Imperative (affirmative)
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| tu | recule |
| nous | reculons |
| vous | reculez |
Imperative (negative)
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| tu | recule |
| nous | reculons |
| vous | reculez |
Gerund and past participle
| Form | French |
|---|---|
| Gerund | en reculant |
| Past participle | reculé |
When to use each tense
Present indicative
The present indicative is used for habits, facts and things happening now. For example: “Je recule d’un pas prudent.” — “I step back cautiously.”
Passé simple
The passé simple is used for completed actions in the past, mainly in written and literary French. For example: “Tu reculas d’un pas prudent.” — “You stepped back cautiously one day.”
Imperfect
The imperfect is used for ongoing or habitual actions in the past, and background description. For example: “Il reculait d’un pas prudent quand j’étais jeune.” — “He used to step back cautiously.”
Future
The future is used for what will happen, predictions and promises. For example: “Nous reculerons d’un pas prudent.” — “We will step back cautiously tomorrow.”
Conditional
The conditional is used for what would happen, polite requests and hypothetical situations. For example: “Vous reculeriez d’un pas prudent.” — “You would step back cautiously if you could.”
Present perfect (passé composé)
The present perfect (passé composé) is used for recent past actions and completed events. With reculer it is formed with avoir + the past participle reculé. For example: “Ils ont reculé d’un pas prudent hier.” — “They have stepped back cautiously.”
Pluperfect (plus-que-parfait)
The pluperfect (plus-que-parfait) is used for an action completed before another past action. For example: “J'avais reculé d’un pas prudent avant la fête.” — “I had stepped back cautiously 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 reculé d’un pas prudent.” — “You will have stepped back cautiously by tomorrow evening.”
Conditional perfect
The conditional perfect is used for what would have happened in a different past. For example: “Il aurait reculé d’un pas prudent.” — “He would have stepped back cautiously 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 recule d’un pas prudent.” — “It is important that I step back cautiously.”
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 reculasse d’un pas prudent.” — “It was important that I step back cautiously.”
Imperative (affirmative)
The imperative (affirmative) is used for direct commands and instructions. For example: “Recule d’un pas prudent !” — “Step back cautiously!”
Imperative (negative)
The imperative (negative) is used for prohibitions and negative commands. For example: “Recule d’un pas prudent !” — “Do not step back cautiously!”
Gerund and past participle
The gerund is en reculant — “while stepping back” — used after en to say how something happens. The past participle is reculé, used with avoir for the perfect tenses, as in ai reculé.
Example sentences
Ten natural sentences with reculer, covering different tenses and persons. Say each one aloud, then cover the French and try to produce it from the English.
- “Je recule d’un pas prudent.” — “I step back cautiously.”
- “Tu recules d’un pas prudent.” — “You step back cautiously.”
- “Il reculait d’un pas prudent.” — “He used to step back cautiously.”
- “Nous reculerons d’un pas prudent.” — “We will step back cautiously tomorrow.”
- “Je reculerais d’un pas prudent.” — “I would step back cautiously if I could.”
- “Tu as reculé d’un pas prudent.” — “You have stepped back cautiously.”
- “Il avait reculé d’un pas prudent.” — “He had stepped back cautiously before the party.”
- “Nous aurons reculé d’un pas prudent.” — “We will have stepped back cautiously by tomorrow evening.”
- “Il faut que je recule d’un pas prudent.” — “It is important that I step back cautiously.”
- “Recule d’un pas prudent !” — “Step back cautiously!”
Common mistakes
1. Using the infinitive instead of a conjugated form
✗ Wrong: “Je reculer d’un pas prudent.”
✓ Right: “Je recule d’un pas prudent.”
The infinitive reculer never takes a subject. After je you need the conjugated present form recule.
2. Confusing reculer with avancer
✗ Wrong: “Je recule lentement dans la file.” (meant as “avancer”)
✓ Right: “Je recule d’un pas prudent.”
reculer means “to reverse”; avancer means “to advance”. Keep the two verbs apart by their meaning, not by their sound.
3. Using the wrong auxiliary for the passé composé
✗ Wrong: “Je suis reculé d’un pas prudent.”
✓ Right: “J'ai reculé d’un pas prudent.”
With reculer the passé composé is formed with avoir, not être: ai reculé.
4. Using the indicative after a subjunctive trigger
✗ Wrong: “Il faut que je recule d’un pas prudent.”
✓ Right: “Il faut que je recule d’un pas prudent.”
After il faut que French needs the subjunctive, so use recule here, not the indicative recule.
5. Using the present for a finished past event
✗ Wrong: “Je recule d’un pas prudent hier.”
✓ Right: “J'ai reculé d’un pas prudent hier.”
Yesterday’s finished event needs the passé composé (ai reculé), not the present.
Quiz: test yourself
What is the je form of reculer in the Present indicative?
- A) recules
- B) reculons
- C) recule
- D) reculez
What is the ils/elles form of reculer in the Present indicative?
- A) recule
- B) reculent
- C) recules
- D) reculons
What is the il/elle form of reculer in the Passé simple?
- A) recula
- B) reculas
- C) reculèrent
- D) reculâtes
What is the nous form of reculer in the Imperfect?
- A) reculions
- B) reculais
- C) reculaient
- D) reculait
What is the tu form of reculer in the Future?
- A) reculerons
- B) reculerez
- C) reculeras
- D) reculerai
What is the je form of reculer in the Conditional?
- A) reculerait
- B) reculeraient
- C) reculerais
- D) reculerions
What is the il/elle form of reculer in the Present perfect (passé composé)?
- A) ont reculé
- B) ai reculé
- C) as reculé
- D) a reculé
What is the vous form of reculer in the Pluperfect (plus-que-parfait)?
- A) avait reculé
- B) avaient reculé
- C) aviez reculé
- D) avions reculé
What is the gerund of reculer?
- A) en reculant
- B) recule
- C) reculé
- D) reculerai
What is the past participle of reculer?
- A) reculé
- B) en reculant
- C) reculais
- D) recule
Answer key
- C) recule — the je form of reculer in the present indicative is recule.
- B) reculent — the ils/elles form of reculer in the present indicative is reculent.
- A) recula — the il/elle form of reculer in the passé simple is recula.
- A) reculions — the nous form of reculer in the imperfect is reculions.
- C) reculeras — the tu form of reculer in the future is reculeras.
- C) reculerais — the je form of reculer in the conditional is reculerais.
- D) a reculé — the il/elle form of reculer in the present perfect (passé composé) is a reculé.
- C) aviez reculé — the vous form of reculer in the pluperfect (plus-que-parfait) is aviez reculé.
- A) en reculant — the gerund of reculer is en reculant; it is used after en for actions in progress.
- A) reculé — the past participle of reculer is reculé; perfect tenses use avoir + reculé.
Frequently asked questions
What does reculer mean in English?
reculer means “to reverse”. You use it in everyday situations like the examples on this page — for example, “Je recule d’un pas prudent.” (“I step back cautiously.”). It is a core everyday verb, so its present-tense forms are worth learning first.
Is reculer regular or irregular?
reculer is regular: its endings follow the standard -er pattern in every tense. The gerund is en reculant and the past participle is reculé.
What are the gerund and past participle of reculer?
The gerund is en reculant — use it after en for actions in progress. The past participle is reculé — use it with avoir for the perfect tenses, as in ai reculé.
What is the difference between reculer and avancer?
reculer means “to reverse”, while avancer means “to advance”. 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 avancer and compare the meanings in context.
How do I say “I step back” in French?
Say “Je recule d’un pas prudent.” — “I step back cautiously.” The je form of the present is recule, and it is the form you will use most often.
How to learn reculer
Start with the present tense: recule, recules, recule, reculons, reculez, reculent. Say them in order every day for a week, then add the passé composé — ai reculé — and the imperfect — reculais. Next, learn the future (reculerai) and the conditional (reculerais), which share the same stem. Finally, tackle the subjunctive (recule) and the imperative (recule). 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
- reculer in the present tense — the full table and uses for this verb in the present tense.
- reculer 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.
- Avancer conjugation — another French verb to practise with.
- Se depecher conjugation — another French verb to practise with.
- Spanish verbs — the full hub of Spanish conjugation pages.
- Verb Conjugator — practise reculer with the interactive tool.
- Verb Quiz — practise reculer with the interactive tool.
- Present Tense Conjugator — practise the present tense with the interactive tool.
- VerbFlow home — back to the start.