Se calmer Conjugation in French
se calmer means “to calm down” in English, and it is a verb French learners meet early and use often. This page gives you the complete conjugation of se calmer — 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 me calme après une longue journée.” — “I calm down after a long day.” 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 se calmer 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: se calmer
- English: to calm down
- Verb type: Reflexive -er verb
- Irregular in: — (regular in every tense)
- Gerund: en calmant
- Past participle: calmé
- Auxiliary: être (all perfect tenses are formed with être + the past participle)
- Reflexive: yes — the reflexive pronoun (me, te, se, nous, vous, se) goes before the verb in most tenses. The tables below show the bare verb form exactly as the verified tables give it; the examples add the pronoun, as in “Je me calme après une longue journée”.
Pronunciation is not listed on this page: the verified tables do not include IPA for se calmer, so no pronunciation is given rather than an invented one.
Full conjugation tables
Every form below comes from VerbFlow’s verified conjugation tables for se calmer. 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 | calme |
| tu | calmes |
| il/elle | calme |
| nous | calmons |
| vous | calmez |
| ils/elles | calment |
Passé simple
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| je | calmai |
| tu | calmas |
| il/elle | calma |
| nous | calmâmes |
| vous | calmâtes |
| ils/elles | calmèrent |
Imperfect
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| je | calmais |
| tu | calmais |
| il/elle | calmait |
| nous | calmions |
| vous | calmiez |
| ils/elles | calmaient |
Future
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| je | calmerai |
| tu | calmeras |
| il/elle | calmera |
| nous | calmerons |
| vous | calmerez |
| ils/elles | calmeront |
Conditional
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| je | calmerais |
| tu | calmerais |
| il/elle | calmerait |
| nous | calmerions |
| vous | calmeriez |
| ils/elles | calmeraient |
Present perfect (passé composé)
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| je | suis calmé |
| tu | es calmé |
| il/elle | est calmé |
| nous | sommes calmé |
| vous | êtes calmé |
| ils/elles | sont calmé |
Pluperfect (plus-que-parfait)
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| je | étais calmé |
| tu | étais calmé |
| il/elle | était calmé |
| nous | étions calmé |
| vous | étiez calmé |
| ils/elles | étaient calmé |
Future perfect
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| je | serai calmé |
| tu | seras calmé |
| il/elle | sera calmé |
| nous | serons calmé |
| vous | serez calmé |
| ils/elles | seront calmé |
Conditional perfect
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| je | serais calmé |
| tu | serais calmé |
| il/elle | serait calmé |
| nous | serions calmé |
| vous | seriez calmé |
| ils/elles | seraient calmé |
Present subjunctive
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| je | calme |
| tu | calmes |
| il/elle | calme |
| nous | calmions |
| vous | calmiez |
| ils/elles | calment |
Imperfect subjunctive
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| je | calmasse |
| tu | calmasses |
| il/elle | calmât |
| nous | calmassions |
| vous | calmassiez |
| ils/elles | calmassent |
Imperative (affirmative)
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| tu | calme |
| nous | calmons |
| vous | calmez |
Imperative (negative)
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| tu | calme |
| nous | calmons |
| vous | calmez |
Gerund and past participle
| Form | French |
|---|---|
| Gerund | en calmant |
| Past participle | calmé |
When to use each tense
Present indicative
The present indicative is used for habits, facts and things happening now. For example: “Je me calme après une longue journée.” — “I calm down after a long day.”
Passé simple
The passé simple is used for completed actions in the past, mainly in written and literary French. For example: “Tu te calmas après une longue journée.” — “You calmed down after a long day one day.”
Imperfect
The imperfect is used for ongoing or habitual actions in the past, and background description. For example: “Il se calmait après une longue journée quand j’étais jeune.” — “He used to calm down after a long day.”
Future
The future is used for what will happen, predictions and promises. For example: “Nous nous calmerons après une longue journée.” — “We will calm down after a long day tomorrow.”
Conditional
The conditional is used for what would happen, polite requests and hypothetical situations. For example: “Vous vous calmeriez après une longue journée.” — “You would calm down after a long day if you could.”
Present perfect (passé composé)
The present perfect (passé composé) is used for recent past actions and completed events. With se calmer it is formed with être + the past participle calmé. For example: “Ils se sont calmé après une longue journée hier.” — “They have calmed down after a long day.”
Pluperfect (plus-que-parfait)
The pluperfect (plus-que-parfait) is used for an action completed before another past action. For example: “Je m'étais calmé après une longue journée avant la fête.” — “I had calmed down after a long day before the party.”
Future perfect
The future perfect is used for what will have happened by a point in the future. For example: “Tu te seras calmé après une longue journée.” — “You will have calmed down after a long day by tomorrow evening.”
Conditional perfect
The conditional perfect is used for what would have happened in a different past. For example: “Il se serait calmé après une longue journée.” — “He would have calmed down after a long day 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 me calme après une longue journée.” — “It is important that I calm down after a long day.”
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 me calmasse après une longue journée.” — “It was important that I calm down after a long day.”
Imperative (affirmative)
The imperative (affirmative) is used for direct commands and instructions. For example: “Ne te calme pas après une longue journée !” — “Do not calm down after a long day!”
Imperative (negative)
The imperative (negative) is used for prohibitions and negative commands. For example: “Ne te calme pas après une longue journée !” — “Do not calm down after a long day!”
Gerund and past participle
The gerund is en calmant — “while calming down” — used after en to say how something happens. The past participle is calmé, used with être for the perfect tenses, as in suis calmé.
Example sentences
Ten natural sentences with se calmer, covering different tenses and persons. Say each one aloud, then cover the French and try to produce it from the English.
- “Je me calme après une longue journée.” — “I calm down after a long day.”
- “Tu te calmes après une longue journée.” — “You calm down after a long day.”
- “Il se calmait après une longue journée.” — “He used to calm down after a long day.”
- “Nous nous calmerons après une longue journée.” — “We will calm down after a long day tomorrow.”
- “Je me calmerais après une longue journée.” — “I would calm down after a long day if I could.”
- “Tu t'es calmé après une longue journée.” — “You have calmed down after a long day.”
- “Il s'était calmé après une longue journée.” — “He had calmed down after a long day before the party.”
- “Nous nous serons calmé après une longue journée.” — “We will have calmed down after a long day by tomorrow evening.”
- “Il faut que je me calme après une longue journée.” — “It is important that I calm down after a long day.”
- “Ne te calme pas après une longue journée !” — “Do not calm down after a long day!”
Common mistakes
1. Using the infinitive instead of a conjugated form
✗ Wrong: “Je se calmer après une longue journée.”
✓ Right: “Je me calme après une longue journée.”
The infinitive se calmer never takes a subject. After je you need the conjugated present form calme.
2. Confusing se calmer with se reposer
✗ Wrong: “Je me calme dans le jardin le dimanche.” (meant as “se reposer”)
✓ Right: “Je me calme après une longue journée.”
se calmer means “to calm down”; se reposer means “to rest”. Keep the two verbs apart by their meaning, not by their sound.
3. Using avoir for the passé composé
✗ Wrong: “J’ai calmé après une longue journée.”
✓ Right: “Je me suis calmé après une longue journée.”
With se calmer the passé composé is formed with être, not avoir: suis calmé.
4. Using the indicative after a subjunctive trigger
✗ Wrong: “Il faut que je calme après une longue journée.”
✓ Right: “Il faut que je me calme après une longue journée.”
After il faut que French needs the subjunctive, so use calme here, not the indicative calme.
5. Dropping the reflexive pronoun
✗ Wrong: “Je calme après une longue journée.”
✓ Right: “Je me calme après une longue journée.”
se calmer is reflexive: the pronoun (me for je) is part of the verb. Without it the sentence means something else, or nothing at all.
Quiz: test yourself
What is the je form of se calmer in the Present indicative?
- A) calmez
- B) calme
- C) calmes
- D) calment
What is the ils/elles form of se calmer in the Present indicative?
- A) calmons
- B) calmes
- C) calme
- D) calment
What is the il/elle form of se calmer in the Passé simple?
- A) calmâmes
- B) calmâtes
- C) calma
- D) calmas
What is the nous form of se calmer in the Imperfect?
- A) calmiez
- B) calmais
- C) calmions
- D) calmaient
What is the tu form of se calmer in the Future?
- A) calmera
- B) calmeras
- C) calmerons
- D) calmeront
What is the je form of se calmer in the Conditional?
- A) calmerait
- B) calmerais
- C) calmeraient
- D) calmeriez
What is the il/elle form of se calmer in the Present perfect (passé composé)?
- A) sommes calmé
- B) sont calmé
- C) est calmé
- D) suis calmé
What is the vous form of se calmer in the Pluperfect (plus-que-parfait)?
- A) étions calmé
- B) était calmé
- C) étais calmé
- D) étiez calmé
What is the gerund of se calmer?
- A) calme
- B) calmerai
- C) calmé
- D) en calmant
What is the past participle of se calmer?
- A) calmé
- B) en calmant
- C) calmais
- D) calme
Answer key
- B) calme — the je form of se calmer in the present indicative is calme.
- D) calment — the ils/elles form of se calmer in the present indicative is calment.
- C) calma — the il/elle form of se calmer in the passé simple is calma.
- C) calmions — the nous form of se calmer in the imperfect is calmions.
- B) calmeras — the tu form of se calmer in the future is calmeras.
- B) calmerais — the je form of se calmer in the conditional is calmerais.
- C) est calmé — the il/elle form of se calmer in the present perfect (passé composé) is est calmé.
- D) étiez calmé — the vous form of se calmer in the pluperfect (plus-que-parfait) is étiez calmé.
- D) en calmant — the gerund of se calmer is en calmant; it is used after en for actions in progress.
- A) calmé — the past participle of se calmer is calmé; perfect tenses use être + calmé.
Frequently asked questions
What does se calmer mean in English?
se calmer means “to calm down”. You use it in everyday situations like the examples on this page — for example, “Je me calme après une longue journée.” (“I calm down after a long day.”). It is a core everyday verb, so its present-tense forms are worth learning first.
Is se calmer regular or irregular?
se calmer is regular: its endings follow the standard -er pattern in every tense. The gerund is en calmant and the past participle is calmé.
What are the gerund and past participle of se calmer?
The gerund is en calmant — use it after en for actions in progress. The past participle is calmé — use it with être for the perfect tenses, as in suis calmé.
What is the difference between se calmer and se reposer?
se calmer means “to calm down”, while se reposer means “to rest”. 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 se reposer and compare the meanings in context.
How do I say “I calm down” in French?
Say “Je me calme après une longue journée.” — “I calm down after a long day.” The je form of the present is calme, and it is the form you will use most often.
How to learn se calmer
Start with the present tense: calme, calmes, calme, calmons, calmez, calment. Say them in order every day for a week, then add the passé composé — suis calmé — and the imperfect — calmais. Next, learn the future (calmerai) and the conditional (calmerais), which share the same stem. Finally, tackle the subjunctive (calme) and the imperative (calme). 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
- se calmer in the present tense — the full table and uses for this verb in the present tense.
- se calmer 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.
- Se reposer conjugation — another French verb to practise with.
- Craindre conjugation — another French verb to practise with.
- Spanish verbs — the full hub of Spanish conjugation pages.
- Verb Conjugator — practise se calmer with the interactive tool.
- Verb Quiz — practise se calmer with the interactive tool.
- Reflexive Verb Conjugator — practise reflexive verbs with the interactive tool.
- VerbFlow home — back to the start.