Se reposer Conjugation in French
se reposer means “to rest” in English, and it is a verb French learners meet early and use often. This page gives you the complete conjugation of se reposer — 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 repose dans le jardin le dimanche.” — “I rest in the garden on Sundays.” 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 reposer 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 reposer
- English: to rest
- Verb type: Reflexive -er verb
- Irregular in: — (regular in every tense)
- Gerund: en reposant
- Past participle: reposé
- 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 repose dans le jardin le dimanche”.
Pronunciation is not listed on this page: the verified tables do not include IPA for se reposer, 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 reposer. 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 | repose |
| tu | reposes |
| il/elle | repose |
| nous | reposons |
| vous | reposez |
| ils/elles | reposent |
Passé simple
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| je | reposai |
| tu | reposas |
| il/elle | reposa |
| nous | reposâmes |
| vous | reposâtes |
| ils/elles | reposèrent |
Imperfect
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| je | reposais |
| tu | reposais |
| il/elle | reposait |
| nous | reposions |
| vous | reposiez |
| ils/elles | reposaient |
Future
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| je | reposerai |
| tu | reposeras |
| il/elle | reposera |
| nous | reposerons |
| vous | reposerez |
| ils/elles | reposeront |
Conditional
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| je | reposerais |
| tu | reposerais |
| il/elle | reposerait |
| nous | reposerions |
| vous | reposeriez |
| ils/elles | reposeraient |
Present perfect (passé composé)
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| je | suis reposé |
| tu | es reposé |
| il/elle | est reposé |
| nous | sommes reposé |
| vous | êtes reposé |
| ils/elles | sont reposé |
Pluperfect (plus-que-parfait)
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| je | étais reposé |
| tu | étais reposé |
| il/elle | était reposé |
| nous | étions reposé |
| vous | étiez reposé |
| ils/elles | étaient reposé |
Future perfect
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| je | serai reposé |
| tu | seras reposé |
| il/elle | sera reposé |
| nous | serons reposé |
| vous | serez reposé |
| ils/elles | seront reposé |
Conditional perfect
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| je | serais reposé |
| tu | serais reposé |
| il/elle | serait reposé |
| nous | serions reposé |
| vous | seriez reposé |
| ils/elles | seraient reposé |
Present subjunctive
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| je | repose |
| tu | reposes |
| il/elle | repose |
| nous | reposions |
| vous | reposiez |
| ils/elles | reposent |
Imperfect subjunctive
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| je | reposasse |
| tu | reposasses |
| il/elle | reposât |
| nous | reposassions |
| vous | reposassiez |
| ils/elles | reposassent |
Imperative (affirmative)
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| tu | repose |
| nous | reposons |
| vous | reposez |
Imperative (negative)
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| tu | repose |
| nous | reposons |
| vous | reposez |
Gerund and past participle
| Form | French |
|---|---|
| Gerund | en reposant |
| Past participle | reposé |
When to use each tense
Present indicative
The present indicative is used for habits, facts and things happening now. For example: “Je me repose dans le jardin le dimanche.” — “I rest in the garden on Sundays.”
Passé simple
The passé simple is used for completed actions in the past, mainly in written and literary French. For example: “Tu te reposas dans le jardin le dimanche.” — “You rested in the garden on Sundays one day.”
Imperfect
The imperfect is used for ongoing or habitual actions in the past, and background description. For example: “Il se reposait dans le jardin le dimanche quand j’étais jeune.” — “He used to rest in the garden on Sundays.”
Future
The future is used for what will happen, predictions and promises. For example: “Nous nous reposerons dans le jardin le dimanche.” — “We will rest in the garden on Sundays tomorrow.”
Conditional
The conditional is used for what would happen, polite requests and hypothetical situations. For example: “Vous vous reposeriez dans le jardin le dimanche.” — “You would rest in the garden on Sundays if you could.”
Present perfect (passé composé)
The present perfect (passé composé) is used for recent past actions and completed events. With se reposer it is formed with être + the past participle reposé. For example: “Ils se sont reposé dans le jardin le dimanche hier.” — “They have rested in the garden on Sundays.”
Pluperfect (plus-que-parfait)
The pluperfect (plus-que-parfait) is used for an action completed before another past action. For example: “Je m'étais reposé dans le jardin le dimanche avant la fête.” — “I had rested in the garden on Sundays 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 reposé dans le jardin le dimanche.” — “You will have rested in the garden on Sundays by tomorrow evening.”
Conditional perfect
The conditional perfect is used for what would have happened in a different past. For example: “Il se serait reposé dans le jardin le dimanche.” — “He would have rested in the garden on Sundays 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 repose dans le jardin le dimanche.” — “It is important that I rest in the garden on Sundays.”
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 reposasse dans le jardin le dimanche.” — “It was important that I rest in the garden on Sundays.”
Imperative (affirmative)
The imperative (affirmative) is used for direct commands and instructions. For example: “Ne te repose pas dans le jardin le dimanche !” — “Do not rest in the garden on Sundays!”
Imperative (negative)
The imperative (negative) is used for prohibitions and negative commands. For example: “Ne te repose pas dans le jardin le dimanche !” — “Do not rest in the garden on Sundays!”
Gerund and past participle
The gerund is en reposant — “while resting” — used after en to say how something happens. The past participle is reposé, used with être for the perfect tenses, as in suis reposé.
Example sentences
Ten natural sentences with se reposer, covering different tenses and persons. Say each one aloud, then cover the French and try to produce it from the English.
- “Je me repose dans le jardin le dimanche.” — “I rest in the garden on Sundays.”
- “Tu te reposes dans le jardin le dimanche.” — “You rest in the garden on Sundays.”
- “Il se reposait dans le jardin le dimanche.” — “He used to rest in the garden on Sundays.”
- “Nous nous reposerons dans le jardin le dimanche.” — “We will rest in the garden on Sundays tomorrow.”
- “Je me reposerais dans le jardin le dimanche.” — “I would rest in the garden on Sundays if I could.”
- “Tu t'es reposé dans le jardin le dimanche.” — “You have rested in the garden on Sundays.”
- “Il s'était reposé dans le jardin le dimanche.” — “He had rested in the garden on Sundays before the party.”
- “Nous nous serons reposé dans le jardin le dimanche.” — “We will have rested in the garden on Sundays by tomorrow evening.”
- “Il faut que je me repose dans le jardin le dimanche.” — “It is important that I rest in the garden on Sundays.”
- “Ne te repose pas dans le jardin le dimanche !” — “Do not rest in the garden on Sundays!”
Common mistakes
1. Using the infinitive instead of a conjugated form
✗ Wrong: “Je se reposer dans le jardin le dimanche.”
✓ Right: “Je me repose dans le jardin le dimanche.”
The infinitive se reposer never takes a subject. After je you need the conjugated present form repose.
2. Confusing se reposer with se calmer
✗ Wrong: “Je me repose après une longue journée.” (meant as “se calmer”)
✓ Right: “Je me repose dans le jardin le dimanche.”
se reposer means “to rest”; se calmer means “to calm down”. Keep the two verbs apart by their meaning, not by their sound.
3. Using avoir for the passé composé
✗ Wrong: “J’ai reposé dans le jardin le dimanche.”
✓ Right: “Je me suis reposé dans le jardin le dimanche.”
With se reposer the passé composé is formed with être, not avoir: suis reposé.
4. Using the indicative after a subjunctive trigger
✗ Wrong: “Il faut que je repose dans le jardin le dimanche.”
✓ Right: “Il faut que je me repose dans le jardin le dimanche.”
After il faut que French needs the subjunctive, so use repose here, not the indicative repose.
5. Dropping the reflexive pronoun
✗ Wrong: “Je repose dans le jardin le dimanche.”
✓ Right: “Je me repose dans le jardin le dimanche.”
se reposer 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 reposer in the Present indicative?
- A) reposons
- B) repose
- C) reposez
- D) reposent
What is the ils/elles form of se reposer in the Present indicative?
- A) repose
- B) reposez
- C) reposons
- D) reposent
What is the il/elle form of se reposer in the Passé simple?
- A) reposas
- B) reposa
- C) reposai
- D) reposèrent
What is the nous form of se reposer in the Imperfect?
- A) reposiez
- B) reposaient
- C) reposais
- D) reposions
What is the tu form of se reposer in the Future?
- A) reposerai
- B) reposerons
- C) reposeras
- D) reposera
What is the je form of se reposer in the Conditional?
- A) reposerions
- B) reposeraient
- C) reposerais
- D) reposerait
What is the il/elle form of se reposer in the Present perfect (passé composé)?
- A) es reposé
- B) sommes reposé
- C) est reposé
- D) sont reposé
What is the vous form of se reposer in the Pluperfect (plus-que-parfait)?
- A) étiez reposé
- B) était reposé
- C) étions reposé
- D) étais reposé
What is the gerund of se reposer?
- A) repose
- B) en reposant
- C) reposé
- D) reposerai
What is the past participle of se reposer?
- A) reposé
- B) en reposant
- C) repose
- D) reposais
Answer key
- B) repose — the je form of se reposer in the present indicative is repose.
- D) reposent — the ils/elles form of se reposer in the present indicative is reposent.
- B) reposa — the il/elle form of se reposer in the passé simple is reposa.
- D) reposions — the nous form of se reposer in the imperfect is reposions.
- C) reposeras — the tu form of se reposer in the future is reposeras.
- C) reposerais — the je form of se reposer in the conditional is reposerais.
- C) est reposé — the il/elle form of se reposer in the present perfect (passé composé) is est reposé.
- A) étiez reposé — the vous form of se reposer in the pluperfect (plus-que-parfait) is étiez reposé.
- B) en reposant — the gerund of se reposer is en reposant; it is used after en for actions in progress.
- A) reposé — the past participle of se reposer is reposé; perfect tenses use être + reposé.
Frequently asked questions
What does se reposer mean in English?
se reposer means “to rest”. You use it in everyday situations like the examples on this page — for example, “Je me repose dans le jardin le dimanche.” (“I rest in the garden on Sundays.”). It is a core everyday verb, so its present-tense forms are worth learning first.
Is se reposer regular or irregular?
se reposer is regular: its endings follow the standard -er pattern in every tense. The gerund is en reposant and the past participle is reposé.
What are the gerund and past participle of se reposer?
The gerund is en reposant — use it after en for actions in progress. The past participle is reposé — use it with être for the perfect tenses, as in suis reposé.
What is the difference between se reposer and se calmer?
se reposer means “to rest”, while se calmer means “to calm down”. 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 calmer and compare the meanings in context.
How do I say “I rest” in French?
Say “Je me repose dans le jardin le dimanche.” — “I rest in the garden on Sundays.” The je form of the present is repose, and it is the form you will use most often.
How to learn se reposer
Start with the present tense: repose, reposes, repose, reposons, reposez, reposent. Say them in order every day for a week, then add the passé composé — suis reposé — and the imperfect — reposais. Next, learn the future (reposerai) and the conditional (reposerais), which share the same stem. Finally, tackle the subjunctive (repose) and the imperative (repose). 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 reposer in the present tense — the full table and uses for this verb in the present tense.
- se reposer 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 calmer conjugation — another French verb to practise with.
- Rever conjugation — another French verb to practise with.
- Spanish verbs — the full hub of Spanish conjugation pages.
- Verb Conjugator — practise se reposer with the interactive tool.
- Verb Quiz — practise se reposer with the interactive tool.
- Reflexive Verb Conjugator — practise reflexive verbs with the interactive tool.
- VerbFlow home — back to the start.