Se disputer Conjugation in French
se disputer means “to argue” in English, and it is a verb French learners meet early and use often. This page gives you the complete conjugation of se disputer — 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 dispute avec mon frère pour rien.” — “I argue with my brother over nothing.” 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 disputer 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 disputer
- English: to argue
- Verb type: Reflexive -er verb
- Irregular in: — (regular in every tense)
- Gerund: en disputant
- Past participle: disputé
- 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 dispute avec mon frère pour rien”.
Pronunciation is not listed on this page: the verified tables do not include IPA for se disputer, 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 disputer. 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 | dispute |
| tu | disputes |
| il/elle | dispute |
| nous | disputons |
| vous | disputez |
| ils/elles | disputent |
Passé simple
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| je | disputai |
| tu | disputas |
| il/elle | disputa |
| nous | disputâmes |
| vous | disputâtes |
| ils/elles | disputèrent |
Imperfect
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| je | disputais |
| tu | disputais |
| il/elle | disputait |
| nous | disputions |
| vous | disputiez |
| ils/elles | disputaient |
Future
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| je | disputerai |
| tu | disputeras |
| il/elle | disputera |
| nous | disputerons |
| vous | disputerez |
| ils/elles | disputeront |
Conditional
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| je | disputerais |
| tu | disputerais |
| il/elle | disputerait |
| nous | disputerions |
| vous | disputeriez |
| ils/elles | disputeraient |
Present perfect (passé composé)
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| je | suis disputé |
| tu | es disputé |
| il/elle | est disputé |
| nous | sommes disputé |
| vous | êtes disputé |
| ils/elles | sont disputé |
Pluperfect (plus-que-parfait)
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| je | étais disputé |
| tu | étais disputé |
| il/elle | était disputé |
| nous | étions disputé |
| vous | étiez disputé |
| ils/elles | étaient disputé |
Future perfect
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| je | serai disputé |
| tu | seras disputé |
| il/elle | sera disputé |
| nous | serons disputé |
| vous | serez disputé |
| ils/elles | seront disputé |
Conditional perfect
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| je | serais disputé |
| tu | serais disputé |
| il/elle | serait disputé |
| nous | serions disputé |
| vous | seriez disputé |
| ils/elles | seraient disputé |
Present subjunctive
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| je | dispute |
| tu | disputes |
| il/elle | dispute |
| nous | disputions |
| vous | disputiez |
| ils/elles | disputent |
Imperfect subjunctive
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| je | disputasse |
| tu | disputasses |
| il/elle | disputât |
| nous | disputassions |
| vous | disputassiez |
| ils/elles | disputassent |
Imperative (affirmative)
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| tu | dispute |
| nous | disputons |
| vous | disputez |
Imperative (negative)
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| tu | dispute |
| nous | disputons |
| vous | disputez |
Gerund and past participle
| Form | French |
|---|---|
| Gerund | en disputant |
| Past participle | disputé |
When to use each tense
Present indicative
The present indicative is used for habits, facts and things happening now. For example: “Je me dispute avec mon frère pour rien.” — “I argue with my brother over nothing.”
Passé simple
The passé simple is used for completed actions in the past, mainly in written and literary French. For example: “Tu te disputas avec mon frère pour rien.” — “You argued with my brother over nothing one day.”
Imperfect
The imperfect is used for ongoing or habitual actions in the past, and background description. For example: “Il se disputait avec mon frère pour rien quand j’étais jeune.” — “He used to argue with my brother over nothing.”
Future
The future is used for what will happen, predictions and promises. For example: “Nous nous disputerons avec mon frère pour rien.” — “We will argue with my brother over nothing tomorrow.”
Conditional
The conditional is used for what would happen, polite requests and hypothetical situations. For example: “Vous vous disputeriez avec mon frère pour rien.” — “You would argue with my brother over nothing if you could.”
Present perfect (passé composé)
The present perfect (passé composé) is used for recent past actions and completed events. With se disputer it is formed with être + the past participle disputé. For example: “Ils se sont disputé avec mon frère pour rien hier.” — “They have argued with my brother over nothing.”
Pluperfect (plus-que-parfait)
The pluperfect (plus-que-parfait) is used for an action completed before another past action. For example: “Je m'étais disputé avec mon frère pour rien avant la fête.” — “I had argued with my brother over nothing 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 disputé avec mon frère pour rien.” — “You will have argued with my brother over nothing by tomorrow evening.”
Conditional perfect
The conditional perfect is used for what would have happened in a different past. For example: “Il se serait disputé avec mon frère pour rien.” — “He would have argued with my brother over nothing 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 dispute avec mon frère pour rien.” — “It is important that I argue with my brother over nothing.”
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 disputasse avec mon frère pour rien.” — “It was important that I argue with my brother over nothing.”
Imperative (affirmative)
The imperative (affirmative) is used for direct commands and instructions. For example: “Ne te dispute pas avec mon frère pour rien !” — “Do not argue with my brother over nothing!”
Imperative (negative)
The imperative (negative) is used for prohibitions and negative commands. For example: “Ne te dispute pas avec mon frère pour rien !” — “Do not argue with my brother over nothing!”
Gerund and past participle
The gerund is en disputant — “while arguing” — used after en to say how something happens. The past participle is disputé, used with être for the perfect tenses, as in suis disputé.
Example sentences
Ten natural sentences with se disputer, covering different tenses and persons. Say each one aloud, then cover the French and try to produce it from the English.
- “Je me dispute avec mon frère pour rien.” — “I argue with my brother over nothing.”
- “Tu te disputes avec mon frère pour rien.” — “You argue with my brother over nothing.”
- “Il se disputait avec mon frère pour rien.” — “He used to argue with my brother over nothing.”
- “Nous nous disputerons avec mon frère pour rien.” — “We will argue with my brother over nothing tomorrow.”
- “Je me disputerais avec mon frère pour rien.” — “I would argue with my brother over nothing if I could.”
- “Tu t'es disputé avec mon frère pour rien.” — “You have argued with my brother over nothing.”
- “Il s'était disputé avec mon frère pour rien.” — “He had argued with my brother over nothing before the party.”
- “Nous nous serons disputé avec mon frère pour rien.” — “We will have argued with my brother over nothing by tomorrow evening.”
- “Il faut que je me dispute avec mon frère pour rien.” — “It is important that I argue with my brother over nothing.”
- “Ne te dispute pas avec mon frère pour rien !” — “Do not argue with my brother over nothing!”
Common mistakes
1. Using the infinitive instead of a conjugated form
✗ Wrong: “Je se disputer avec mon frère pour rien.”
✓ Right: “Je me dispute avec mon frère pour rien.”
The infinitive se disputer never takes a subject. After je you need the conjugated present form dispute.
2. Confusing se disputer with se fâcher
✗ Wrong: “Je me dispute quand on me ment.” (meant as “se fâcher”)
✓ Right: “Je me dispute avec mon frère pour rien.”
se disputer means “to argue”; se fâcher means “to get angry”. Keep the two verbs apart by their meaning, not by their sound.
3. Using avoir for the passé composé
✗ Wrong: “J’ai disputé avec mon frère pour rien.”
✓ Right: “Je me suis disputé avec mon frère pour rien.”
With se disputer the passé composé is formed with être, not avoir: suis disputé.
4. Using the indicative after a subjunctive trigger
✗ Wrong: “Il faut que je dispute avec mon frère pour rien.”
✓ Right: “Il faut que je me dispute avec mon frère pour rien.”
After il faut que French needs the subjunctive, so use dispute here, not the indicative dispute.
5. Dropping the reflexive pronoun
✗ Wrong: “Je dispute avec mon frère pour rien.”
✓ Right: “Je me dispute avec mon frère pour rien.”
se disputer 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 disputer in the Present indicative?
- A) disputent
- B) disputons
- C) disputez
- D) dispute
What is the ils/elles form of se disputer in the Present indicative?
- A) disputent
- B) dispute
- C) disputes
- D) disputez
What is the il/elle form of se disputer in the Passé simple?
- A) disputas
- B) disputèrent
- C) disputâmes
- D) disputa
What is the nous form of se disputer in the Imperfect?
- A) disputait
- B) disputiez
- C) disputaient
- D) disputions
What is the tu form of se disputer in the Future?
- A) disputerai
- B) disputeras
- C) disputerez
- D) disputera
What is the je form of se disputer in the Conditional?
- A) disputerait
- B) disputerions
- C) disputeraient
- D) disputerais
What is the il/elle form of se disputer in the Present perfect (passé composé)?
- A) est disputé
- B) êtes disputé
- C) sommes disputé
- D) es disputé
What is the vous form of se disputer in the Pluperfect (plus-que-parfait)?
- A) étiez disputé
- B) étions disputé
- C) était disputé
- D) étais disputé
What is the gerund of se disputer?
- A) en disputant
- B) dispute
- C) disputerai
- D) disputé
What is the past participle of se disputer?
- A) disputais
- B) disputé
- C) dispute
- D) en disputant
Answer key
- D) dispute — the je form of se disputer in the present indicative is dispute.
- A) disputent — the ils/elles form of se disputer in the present indicative is disputent.
- D) disputa — the il/elle form of se disputer in the passé simple is disputa.
- D) disputions — the nous form of se disputer in the imperfect is disputions.
- B) disputeras — the tu form of se disputer in the future is disputeras.
- D) disputerais — the je form of se disputer in the conditional is disputerais.
- A) est disputé — the il/elle form of se disputer in the present perfect (passé composé) is est disputé.
- A) étiez disputé — the vous form of se disputer in the pluperfect (plus-que-parfait) is étiez disputé.
- A) en disputant — the gerund of se disputer is en disputant; it is used after en for actions in progress.
- B) disputé — the past participle of se disputer is disputé; perfect tenses use être + disputé.
Frequently asked questions
What does se disputer mean in English?
se disputer means “to argue”. You use it in everyday situations like the examples on this page — for example, “Je me dispute avec mon frère pour rien.” (“I argue with my brother over nothing.”). It is a core everyday verb, so its present-tense forms are worth learning first.
Is se disputer regular or irregular?
se disputer is regular: its endings follow the standard -er pattern in every tense. The gerund is en disputant and the past participle is disputé.
What are the gerund and past participle of se disputer?
The gerund is en disputant — use it after en for actions in progress. The past participle is disputé — use it with être for the perfect tenses, as in suis disputé.
What is the difference between se disputer and se fâcher?
se disputer means “to argue”, while se fâcher means “to get angry”. 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 fâcher and compare the meanings in context.
How do I say “I argue” in French?
Say “Je me dispute avec mon frère pour rien.” — “I argue with my brother over nothing.” The je form of the present is dispute, and it is the form you will use most often.
How to learn se disputer
Start with the present tense: dispute, disputes, dispute, disputons, disputez, disputent. Say them in order every day for a week, then add the passé composé — suis disputé — and the imperfect — disputais. Next, learn the future (disputerai) and the conditional (disputerais), which share the same stem. Finally, tackle the subjunctive (dispute) and the imperative (dispute). 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 disputer in the present tense — the full table and uses for this verb in the present tense.
- se disputer 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 facher conjugation — another French verb to practise with.
- Spanish verbs — the full hub of Spanish conjugation pages.
- Verb Conjugator — practise se disputer with the interactive tool.
- Verb Quiz — practise se disputer with the interactive tool.
- Reflexive Verb Conjugator — practise reflexive verbs with the interactive tool.
- VerbFlow home — back to the start.