Se lever Conjugation in French
se lever means “get up” 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 morning routine, for talking about getting up early, and for explaining a school morning. 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 lever — 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 lève tôt.” — “I get up early.”
Quick facts
- Infinitive: se lever
- English: get up
- Verb type: Regular with a spelling change (grave-e)
- Irregular in: present, present-subjunctive, imperative-affirmative, imperative-negative
- Gerund: en levant
- Past participle: levé
- 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 lever, 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 lever. 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 | lève |
| tu | lèves |
| il/elle | lève |
| nous | levons |
| vous | levez |
| ils/elles | lèvent |
Passé simple
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| je | levai |
| tu | levas |
| il/elle | leva |
| nous | levâmes |
| vous | levâtes |
| ils/elles | levèrent |
Imperfect
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| je | levais |
| tu | levais |
| il/elle | levait |
| nous | levions |
| vous | leviez |
| ils/elles | levaient |
Future
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| je | lèverai |
| tu | lèveras |
| il/elle | lèvera |
| nous | lèverons |
| vous | lèverez |
| ils/elles | lèveront |
Conditional
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| je | lèverais |
| tu | lèverais |
| il/elle | lèverait |
| nous | lèverions |
| vous | lèveriez |
| ils/elles | lèveraient |
Present subjunctive
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| je | lève |
| tu | lèves |
| il/elle | lève |
| nous | levions |
| vous | leviez |
| ils/elles | lèvent |
Imperfect subjunctive
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| je | levasse |
| tu | levasses |
| il/elle | levât |
| nous | levassions |
| vous | levassiez |
| ils/elles | levassent |
Present perfect
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| je | suis levé |
| tu | es levé |
| il/elle | est levé |
| nous | sommes levé |
| vous | êtes levé |
| ils/elles | sont levé |
Pluperfect (past perfect)
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| je | étais levé |
| tu | étais levé |
| il/elle | était levé |
| nous | étions levé |
| vous | étiez levé |
| ils/elles | étaient levé |
Future perfect
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| je | serai levé |
| tu | seras levé |
| il/elle | sera levé |
| nous | serons levé |
| vous | serez levé |
| ils/elles | seront levé |
Conditional perfect
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| je | serais levé |
| tu | serais levé |
| il/elle | serait levé |
| nous | serions levé |
| vous | seriez levé |
| ils/elles | seraient levé |
Imperative (affirmative)
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| tu | lève |
| nous | levons |
| vous | levez |
Imperative (negative)
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| tu | lève |
| nous | levons |
| vous | levez |
Gerund and past participle
| Form | French |
|---|---|
| Gerund | en levant |
| Past participle | levé |
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 levé.”
When to use each tense
Present indicative
The present indicative is used for habits, facts and things happening now. With se lever this tense is irregular, so the forms do not follow the regular pattern — learn them as a set rather than guessing from the infinitive. For example: “Je me lève à six heures.” — “I get up at six 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 levai à six heures hier.” — “I got up at six o'clock yesterday.”
Imperfect
The imperfect is used for ongoing or habitual actions in the past, and background description. For example: “Je me levais à six heures avant.” — “I used to get up at six o'clock before.”
Future
The future is used for what will happen, predictions and plans. For example: “Je me lèverai à six heures demain.” — “I will get up at six o'clock tomorrow.”
Conditional
The conditional is used for what would happen, polite requests and hypothetical situations. For example: “Je me lèverais à six heures un jour.” — “I would get up at six o'clock one day.”
Present subjunctive
The present subjunctive is used for wishes, doubts, emotions and opinions after que. With se lever this tense is irregular, so the forms do not follow the regular pattern — learn them as a set rather than guessing from the infinitive. For example: “Bien que je me lève à six heures” — “Although I get up at six 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 levasse à six heures” — “Although I get up at six 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 levé à six heures cette semaine.” — “I have got up at six 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 levé à six heures avant la fête.” — “I had got up at six 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 levé à six heures pour demain.” — “I will have got up at six 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 levé à six heures hier.” — “I would have got up at six o'clock yesterday.”
Imperative (affirmative)
The imperative (affirmative) is used for direct commands and instructions. With se lever this tense is irregular, so the forms do not follow the regular pattern — learn them as a set rather than guessing from the infinitive. For example: “lève-toi à six heures !” — “Get up at six o'clock!”
Imperative (negative)
The imperative (negative) is used for prohibitions and negative commands. With se lever this tense is irregular, so the forms do not follow the regular pattern — learn them as a set rather than guessing from the infinitive. For example: “Ne te lève pas à six heures !” — “Don't get up at six o'clock!”
Gerund and past participle
The gerund en levant is used after en for an action in progress, and the past participle levé builds the perfect tenses with être. For example: “Je me suis levé tous les jours cette semaine.” — “I have got up every day this week.”
Example sentences
Ten natural sentences with se lever, covering different tenses and persons. Say each one aloud, then cover the French and try to produce it from the English.
- “Je me lève tôt.” — “I get up early.”
- “Tu te levas à six heures hier.” — “You got up at six o'clock yesterday.”
- “Il se levait tous les jours avant.” — “He used to get up every day before.”
- “Je me lèverai vite demain.” — “I will get up quickly tomorrow.”
- “Tu te lèverais tôt un jour.” — “You would get up early one day.”
- “Il se est levé à six heures cette semaine.” — “He has got up at six o'clock this week.”
- “Je me étais levé tous les jours avant la fête.” — “I had got up every day before the party.”
- “Tu te seras levé vite pour demain.” — “You will have got up quickly by tomorrow.”
- “Bien que il se lève tôt” — “Although he gets up early.”
- “lève-toi à six heures !” — “Get up at six o'clock!”
Common mistakes
1. Dropping the reflexive pronoun
✗ Wrong: “Je lève tôt.”
✓ Right: “Je me lève tôt.”
se lever is reflexive: the pronoun (me, te, se…) belongs before the verb. Without it the sentence is incomplete.
2. Using the wrong person
✗ Wrong: “Je levons à six heures.”
✓ Right: “Je lève à six heures.”
levons is the nous form. With je the present form is lève — check the person in the table before you speak.
3. Using the present for a finished past action
✗ Wrong: “Hier, je lève tôt.”
✓ Right: “Hier, j'suis levé tôt.”
The present lève describes now. For something finished yesterday, use the passé composé suis levé.
4. Using the passé simple in everyday speech
✗ Wrong: “Hier, je levai tous les jours.” (in casual conversation)
✓ Right: “Hier, j'suis levé tous les jours.”
The passé simple levai belongs in novels and formal writing. In everyday speech, say the passé composé suis levé.
5. Using the indicative after a subjunctive trigger
✗ Wrong: “Bien que je lève tôt.”
✓ Right: “Bien que je lève tôt.”
After bien que French needs the subjunctive, so use lève here, not the indicative lève.
6. Using the imperfect for a single finished action
✗ Wrong: “Je levais vite avant.” (said of one finished moment)
✓ Right: “J'suis levé vite avant.”
The imperfect levais describes something ongoing or repeated in the past. For one finished action, use the passé composé suis levé.
Quiz: test yourself
Ten questions on se lever. Choose the right form, then check the answer key below.
What is the je form of se lever in the Present indicative?
- A) lève
- B) lèves
- C) levons
- D) levez
What is the il/elle form of se lever in the Passé simple?
- A) levâmes
- B) levèrent
- C) leva
- D) levâtes
What is the nous form of se lever in the Imperfect?
- A) levions
- B) levait
- C) levais
- D) levaient
What is the tu form of se lever in the Future?
- A) lèverai
- B) lèverons
- C) lèveras
- D) lèveront
What is the je form of se lever in the Conditional?
- A) lèveraient
- B) lèverais
- C) lèverait
- D) lèverions
What is the il/elle form of se lever in the Present subjunctive?
- A) lève
- B) levions
- C) leviez
- D) lèves
What is the je form of se lever in the Imperfect subjunctive?
- A) levassions
- B) levasses
- C) levassent
- D) levasse
What is the gerund of se lever?
- A) buvant
- B) levant
- C) dormant
What is the past participle of se lever?
- A) levé
- B) dormi
- C) bu
What does se lever mean in English?
- A) get up
- B) drink
- C) sleep
- D) open
Answer key
- A) lève — The je form of se lever in the present indicative is lève.
- C) leva — The il/elle form of se lever in the passé simple is leva.
- A) levions — The nous form of se lever in the imperfect is levions.
- C) lèveras — The tu form of se lever in the future is lèveras.
- B) lèverais — The je form of se lever in the conditional is lèverais.
- A) lève — The il/elle form of se lever in the present subjunctive is lève.
- D) levasse — The je form of se lever in the imperfect subjunctive is levasse.
- B) levant — The gerund of se lever is en levant; it is used after en for actions in progress.
- A) levé — The past participle of se lever is levé; perfect tenses use être + levé.
- A) get up — se lever means “get up” in English.
Frequently asked questions
What does se lever mean in English?
se lever means “get up”. You use it for describing your morning routine, for talking about getting up early, and for explaining a school morning. It is a core everyday verb, so its present-tense forms are worth learning first.
Is se lever regular or irregular?
se lever is regular with a spelling change (grave-e), and it is irregular in these tenses: present, present-subjunctive, imperative-affirmative, imperative-negative. The gerund is en levant and the past participle is levé.
What are the gerund and past participle of se lever?
The gerund is en levant — use it after en for actions in progress. The past participle is levé — use it with être for the perfect tenses, as in suis levé.
How do I say “I get up” in French?
Say “Je me lève tôt.” — “I get up early.” The je form of the present is lève, and it is the form you will use most often.
What is the difference between se lever and se coucher?
se lever means “get up” while se coucher means “go to bed” — they describe different actions, so they are not interchangeable. Compare the full table for se coucher and check the meaning in context before you choose.
Related pages
- Se lever Present Tense Conjugation in French
- Se lever Examples, Sentences & Quiz in French
- Se coucher conjugation
- Se réveiller conjugation
- Dormir 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 lever with the interactive tool.
- Reflexive Verb Conjugator — practise se lever with the interactive tool.
- Irregular Verb Finder — practise se lever with the interactive tool.