se coucher Examples, Sentences & Quiz in French

se coucher — go to bed — is one of the verbs you will use every day in French. se coucher is the verb for describing your evening routine: it comes up whenever you talk about talking about bedtime or explaining a late night. On this page you will find se coucher in real sentences, grouped by meaning and tense, two short texts that show it in context, the mistakes learners actually make with it, and a ten-question quiz with explained answers. Start with the examples, say them aloud, and then test yourself.

Example sentences with se coucher

In the present tense

  • “Je me couche tôt.” — “I go to bed early.”
  • “Tu te couches à dix heures.” — “You go to bed at ten o'clock.”
  • “Il se couche tous les soirs.” — “He gos to bed every evening.”
  • “Nous nous couchons tard.” — “We go to bed late.”
  • “Vous vous couchez tôt.” — “You go to bed early.”
  • “Ils se couchent à dix heures.” — “They go to bed at ten o'clock.”

In the passé composé

  • “Je me suis couché tôt cette semaine.” — “I have gone to bed early this week.”
  • “Tu te es couché à dix heures cette semaine.” — “You have gone to bed at ten o'clock this week.”
  • “Il se est couché tous les soirs cette semaine.” — “He has gone to bed every evening this week.”
  • “Nous nous sommes couché tard cette semaine.” — “We have gone to bed late this week.”
  • “Vous vous êtes couché tôt cette semaine.” — “You have gone to bed early this week.”
  • “Ils se sont couché à dix heures cette semaine.” — “They have gone to bed at ten o'clock this week.”

In other tenses

The same verb in the imperfect, the future, the conditional and the present subjunctive — the four tenses that complete the picture. All forms come from the verified tables.

  • “Je me couchais tôt avant.” — “I used to go to bed early before.”
  • “Je me coucherai à dix heures demain.” — “I will go to bed at ten o'clock tomorrow.”
  • “Je me coucherais tous les soirs un jour.” — “I would go to bed every evening one day.”
  • “Bien que il se couche tard” — “Although he gos to bed late.”

se coucher in context

Je me couche tôt. Tu te couches à dix heures. Il se couche tous les soirs. Nous nous couchons tard.

I go to bed early. You go to bed at ten o'clock. He gos to bed every evening. We go to bed late.

Je me suis couché tôt. Il se est couché à dix heures. Nous nous sommes couché tous les soirs.

I have gone to bed early this week. He has gone to bed at ten o'clock this week. We have gone to bed every evening this week.

Common mistakes with se coucher

Mistake 1

Wrong: Je se coucher tôt.

Right: Je couche tôt.

The infinitive never takes a subject: after je you need the conjugated form couche.

Mistake 2

Wrong: Je couchons à dix heures.

Right: Je couche à dix heures.

couchons is the nous form. With je, use couche.

Mistake 3

Wrong: Hier, je couche tous les soirs.

Right: Hier, j'suis couché tous les soirs.

Yesterday needs the passé composé suis couché, not the present.

Mistake 4

Wrong: Bien que je couche tard.

Right: Bien que je couche tard.

After bien que French needs the subjunctive couche.

Mistake 5

Wrong: Je couchais tôt hier. (said of one finished moment)

Right: J'suis couché tôt hier.

The imperfect describes an ongoing or repeated past. One finished moment yesterday takes the passé composé.

Quiz: test yourself on se coucher

Ten questions on se coucher. Choose the right form, then check the answer key below.

  1. What is the tu form of se coucher in the Present indicative?

    • A) couchent
    • B) couche
    • C) couchez
    • D) couches

  2. What is the nous form of se coucher in the Present indicative?

    • A) couches
    • B) couchons
    • C) couche
    • D) couchez

  3. What is the il/elle form of se coucher in the Present perfect?

    • A) êtes couché
    • B) est couché
    • C) sommes couché
    • D) suis couché

  4. What is the je form of se coucher in the Imperfect?

    • A) couchiez
    • B) couchait
    • C) couchais
    • D) couchaient

  5. What is the nous form of se coucher in the Future?

    • A) coucherez
    • B) coucherons
    • C) couchera
    • D) coucheras

  6. What is the tu form of se coucher in the Conditional?

    • A) coucheraient
    • B) coucherais
    • C) coucheriez
    • D) coucherions

  7. What is the je form of se coucher in the Present subjunctive?

    • A) couchions
    • B) couches
    • C) couche
    • D) couchiez

  8. What is the il/elle form of se coucher in the Imperfect subjunctive?

    • A) couchassions
    • B) couchât
    • C) couchasse
    • D) couchasses

  9. What is the gerund of se coucher?

    • A) couchant
    • B) buvant
    • C) dormant

  10. What is the past participle of se coucher?

  • A) dormi
  • B) bu
  • C) couché

Answer key

  1. D) couches — The tu form of se coucher in the present indicative is couches.
  2. B) couchons — The nous form of se coucher in the present indicative is couchons.
  3. B) est couché — The il/elle form of se coucher in the present perfect is est couché.
  4. C) couchais — The je form of se coucher in the imperfect is couchais.
  5. B) coucherons — The nous form of se coucher in the future is coucherons.
  6. B) coucherais — The tu form of se coucher in the conditional is coucherais.
  7. C) couche — The je form of se coucher in the present subjunctive is couche.
  8. B) couchât — The il/elle form of se coucher in the imperfect subjunctive is couchât.
  9. A) couchant — The gerund of se coucher is en couchant; it is used after en for actions in progress.
  10. C) couché — The past participle of se coucher is couché; perfect tenses use être + couché.

Frequently asked questions

What does se coucher mean in English?

se coucher means “go to bed”. You use it for describing your evening routine, for talking about bedtime, and for explaining a late night.

Is se coucher regular or irregular?

se coucher is regular, and it is irregular in these tenses: none — it is regular in every tense. The gerund is en couchant and the past participle is couché.

How do I say “I go to bed” in French?

Say “Je me couche tôt.” — “I go to bed early.” The je form of the present is couche.

Where can I see the full conjugation of se coucher?

On the full conjugation page, which has every tense, and on the Se coucher Present Tense Conjugation in French page.

How to practise se coucher this week

Pick one tense a day and say five sentences with se coucher out loud, using the examples on this page as your starting point. On the first day, use only the present tense and the complements from the examples above — tôt, à dix heures and tous les soirs — and change only the person, so you hear how couche, couches and couche sound next to each other. On the second day, retell yesterday in the passé composé with suis couché and the other perfect forms from the table. On the third day, write three short plans for tomorrow in the future tense, and on the fourth day, turn them into polite conditional sentences. Keep a small notebook and write each new sentence down: seeing en couchant and couché in your own handwriting fixes them in memory far better than reading them once. Finally, take the quiz above again without looking at the answer key — when you can answer all ten questions from memory, move on to the next verb in the hub.

Pronunciation

Pronunciation is not listed on this page: the verified tables do not include IPA for se coucher, so no pronunciation is given rather than an invented one.

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