Se coucher Conjugation in French
se coucher means “go to bed” in English, and it is a verb French learners meet early — it sits in VerbFlow’s frequency list for French. You use it for describing your evening routine, for talking about bedtime, and for explaining a late night. Because it comes up in everyday conversation so often, learning its forms properly pays off from the very first week. It is a reflexive verb, so the pronoun comes before the verb in a sentence. This page gives you the complete conjugation of se coucher — 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 couche tôt.” — “I go to bed early.”
Quick facts
- Infinitive: se coucher
- English: go to bed
- Verb type: Regular
- Irregular in: none — it is regular in every tense
- Gerund: en couchant
- Past participle: couché
- Auxiliary: être (all perfect tenses are formed with être + the past participle)
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.
Full conjugation tables
Every form below comes from VerbFlow’s verified conjugation tables for se coucher. 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 | couche |
| tu | couches |
| il/elle | couche |
| nous | couchons |
| vous | couchez |
| ils/elles | couchent |
Passé simple
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| je | couchai |
| tu | couchas |
| il/elle | coucha |
| nous | couchâmes |
| vous | couchâtes |
| ils/elles | couchèrent |
Imperfect
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| je | couchais |
| tu | couchais |
| il/elle | couchait |
| nous | couchions |
| vous | couchiez |
| ils/elles | couchaient |
Future
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| je | coucherai |
| tu | coucheras |
| il/elle | couchera |
| nous | coucherons |
| vous | coucherez |
| ils/elles | coucheront |
Conditional
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| je | coucherais |
| tu | coucherais |
| il/elle | coucherait |
| nous | coucherions |
| vous | coucheriez |
| ils/elles | coucheraient |
Present subjunctive
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| je | couche |
| tu | couches |
| il/elle | couche |
| nous | couchions |
| vous | couchiez |
| ils/elles | couchent |
Imperfect subjunctive
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| je | couchasse |
| tu | couchasses |
| il/elle | couchât |
| nous | couchassions |
| vous | couchassiez |
| ils/elles | couchassent |
Present perfect
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| je | suis couché |
| tu | es couché |
| il/elle | est couché |
| nous | sommes couché |
| vous | êtes couché |
| ils/elles | sont couché |
Pluperfect (past perfect)
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| je | étais couché |
| tu | étais couché |
| il/elle | était couché |
| nous | étions couché |
| vous | étiez couché |
| ils/elles | étaient couché |
Future perfect
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| je | serai couché |
| tu | seras couché |
| il/elle | sera couché |
| nous | serons couché |
| vous | serez couché |
| ils/elles | seront couché |
Conditional perfect
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| je | serais couché |
| tu | serais couché |
| il/elle | serait couché |
| nous | serions couché |
| vous | seriez couché |
| ils/elles | seraient couché |
Imperative (affirmative)
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| tu | couche |
| nous | couchons |
| vous | couchez |
Imperative (negative)
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| tu | couche |
| nous | couchons |
| vous | couchez |
Gerund and past participle
| Form | French |
|---|---|
| Gerund | en couchant |
| Past participle | couché |
The tables show the bare verb form as listed in the verified dump. In a sentence the reflexive pronoun comes before the verb — je me, tu te, il se, nous nous, vous vous, ils se — and in the perfect tenses it comes before the auxiliary, as in “Je me suis couché.”
When to use each tense
Present indicative
The present indicative is used for habits, facts and things happening now. For example: “Je me couche à dix heures.” — “I go to bed at ten o'clock.”
Passé simple
The passé simple is used for completed actions in the past, mainly in written and literary French. For example: “Je me couchai à dix heures hier.” — “I went to bed at ten o'clock yesterday.”
Imperfect
The imperfect is used for ongoing or habitual actions in the past, and background description. For example: “Je me couchais à dix heures avant.” — “I used to go to bed at ten o'clock before.”
Future
The future is used for what will happen, predictions and plans. For example: “Je me coucherai à dix heures demain.” — “I will go to bed at ten o'clock tomorrow.”
Conditional
The conditional is used for what would happen, polite requests and hypothetical situations. For example: “Je me coucherais à dix heures un jour.” — “I would go to bed at ten o'clock one day.”
Present subjunctive
The present subjunctive is used for wishes, doubts, emotions and opinions after que. For example: “Bien que je me couche à dix heures” — “Although I go to bed at ten o'clock.”
Imperfect subjunctive
The imperfect subjunctive is used for the past subjunctive: wishes and hypotheticals about the past, in formal and literary French. For example: “Bien que je me couchasse à dix heures” — “Although I go to bed at ten o'clock.”
Present perfect
The present perfect is used for recent past actions and life experience; this is the everyday spoken past tense, the passé composé. For example: “Je me suis couché à dix heures cette semaine.” — “I have gone to bed at ten o'clock this week.”
Pluperfect (past perfect)
The pluperfect (past perfect) is used for an action completed before another past action. For example: “Je me étais couché à dix heures avant la fête.” — “I had gone to bed at ten o'clock before the party.”
Future perfect
The future perfect is used for what will have happened by a point in the future. For example: “Je me serai couché à dix heures pour demain.” — “I will have gone to bed at ten o'clock by tomorrow.”
Conditional perfect
The conditional perfect is used for what would have happened in a different past. For example: “Je me serais couché à dix heures hier.” — “I would have gone to bed at ten o'clock yesterday.”
Imperative (affirmative)
The imperative (affirmative) is used for direct commands and instructions. For example: “couche-toi à dix heures !” — “Go to bed at ten o'clock!”
Imperative (negative)
The imperative (negative) is used for prohibitions and negative commands. For example: “Ne te couche pas à dix heures !” — “Don't go to bed at ten o'clock!”
Gerund and past participle
The gerund en couchant is used after en for an action in progress, and the past participle couché builds the perfect tenses with être. For example: “Je me suis couché tous les soirs cette semaine.” — “I have gone to bed every evening this week.”
Example sentences
Ten natural sentences with se coucher, covering different tenses and persons. Say each one aloud, then cover the French and try to produce it from the English.
- “Je me couche tôt.” — “I go to bed early.”
- “Tu te couchas à dix heures hier.” — “You went to bed at ten o'clock yesterday.”
- “Il se couchait tous les soirs avant.” — “He used to go to bed every evening before.”
- “Je me coucherai tard demain.” — “I will go to bed late tomorrow.”
- “Tu te coucherais tôt un jour.” — “You would go to bed early one day.”
- “Il se est couché à dix heures cette semaine.” — “He has gone to bed at ten o'clock this week.”
- “Je me étais couché tous les soirs avant la fête.” — “I had gone to bed every evening before the party.”
- “Tu te seras couché tard pour demain.” — “You will have gone to bed late by tomorrow.”
- “Bien que il se couche tôt” — “Although he gos to bed early.”
- “couche-toi à dix heures !” — “Go to bed at ten o'clock!”
Common mistakes
1. Dropping the reflexive pronoun
✗ Wrong: “Je couche tôt.”
✓ Right: “Je me couche tôt.”
se coucher is reflexive: the pronoun (me, te, se…) belongs before the verb. Without it the sentence is incomplete.
2. Using the wrong person
✗ Wrong: “Je couchons à dix heures.”
✓ Right: “Je couche à dix heures.”
couchons is the nous form. With je the present form is couche — check the person in the table before you speak.
3. Using the present for a finished past action
✗ Wrong: “Hier, je couche tôt.”
✓ Right: “Hier, j'suis couché tôt.”
The present couche describes now. For something finished yesterday, use the passé composé suis couché.
4. Using the passé simple in everyday speech
✗ Wrong: “Hier, je couchai tous les soirs.” (in casual conversation)
✓ Right: “Hier, j'suis couché tous les soirs.”
The passé simple couchai belongs in novels and formal writing. In everyday speech, say the passé composé suis couché.
5. Using the indicative after a subjunctive trigger
✗ Wrong: “Bien que je couche tôt.”
✓ Right: “Bien que je couche tôt.”
After bien que French needs the subjunctive, so use couche here, not the indicative couche.
6. Using the imperfect for a single finished action
✗ Wrong: “Je couchais tard avant.” (said of one finished moment)
✓ Right: “J'suis couché tard avant.”
The imperfect couchais describes something ongoing or repeated in the past. For one finished action, use the passé composé suis couché.
Quiz: test yourself
Ten questions on se coucher. Choose the right form, then check the answer key below.
What is the je form of se coucher in the Present indicative?
- A) couchez
- B) couche
- C) couches
- D) couchons
What is the il/elle form of se coucher in the Passé simple?
- A) couchèrent
- B) couchai
- C) couchas
- D) coucha
What is the nous form of se coucher in the Imperfect?
- A) couchaient
- B) couchais
- C) couchions
- D) couchiez
What is the tu form of se coucher in the Future?
- A) coucherons
- B) coucheras
- C) coucheront
- D) couchera
What is the je form of se coucher in the Conditional?
- A) coucherions
- B) coucheriez
- C) coucherait
- D) coucherais
What is the il/elle form of se coucher in the Present subjunctive?
- A) couchent
- B) couche
- C) couches
- D) couchions
What is the je form of se coucher in the Imperfect subjunctive?
- A) couchassent
- B) couchasse
- C) couchasses
- D) couchât
What is the gerund of se coucher?
- A) dormant
- B) couchant
- C) buvant
What is the past participle of se coucher?
- A) couché
- B) dormi
- C) bu
What does se coucher mean in English?
- A) open
- B) go to bed
- C) drink
- D) sleep
Answer key
- B) couche — The je form of se coucher in the present indicative is couche.
- D) coucha — The il/elle form of se coucher in the passé simple is coucha.
- C) couchions — The nous form of se coucher in the imperfect is couchions.
- B) coucheras — The tu form of se coucher in the future is coucheras.
- D) coucherais — The je form of se coucher in the conditional is coucherais.
- B) couche — The il/elle form of se coucher in the present subjunctive is couche.
- B) couchasse — The je form of se coucher in the imperfect subjunctive is couchasse.
- B) couchant — The gerund of se coucher is en couchant; it is used after en for actions in progress.
- A) couché — The past participle of se coucher is couché; perfect tenses use être + couché.
- B) go to bed — se coucher means “go to bed” in English.
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. It is a core everyday verb, so its present-tense forms are worth learning first.
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.
What are the gerund and past participle of se coucher?
The gerund is en couchant — use it after en for actions in progress. The past participle is couché — use it with être for the perfect tenses, as in suis 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, and it is the form you will use most often.
What is the difference between se coucher and se lever?
se coucher means “go to bed” while se lever means “get up” — they describe different actions, so they are not interchangeable. Compare the full table for se lever and check the meaning in context before you choose.
Related pages
- Se coucher Present Tense Conjugation in French
- Se coucher Examples, Sentences & Quiz in French
- Se lever conjugation
- Dormir conjugation
- Se reposer conjugation
- French verbs — the full hub of French conjugation pages.
- Spanish verbs — the full hub of Spanish conjugation pages.
- VerbFlow home — all languages and tools.
- Verb Conjugator — practise se coucher with the interactive tool.
- Reflexive Verb Conjugator — practise se coucher with the interactive tool.
- Verb Quiz — practise se coucher with the interactive tool.