sourire Examples, Sentences & Quiz in French

sourire — smile — is one of the verbs you will use every day in French. sourire is the verb for greeting people: it comes up whenever you talk about describing a photo or talking about being friendly. On this page you will find sourire 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 sourire

In the present tense

  • “Je souris souvent.” — “I smile often.”
  • “Tu souris à Marie.” — “You smile at Marie.”
  • “Il sourit toute la journée.” — “He smiles all day.”
  • “Nous sourisons très gentiment.” — “We smile very kindly.”
  • “Vous sourisez souvent.” — “You smile often.”
  • “Ils sourisent à Marie.” — “They smile at Marie.”

In the passé composé

  • “J'ai souri souvent cette semaine.” — “I have smiled often this week.”
  • “Tu as souri à Marie cette semaine.” — “You have smiled at Marie this week.”
  • “Il a souri toute la journée cette semaine.” — “He has smiled all day this week.”
  • “Nous avons souri très gentiment cette semaine.” — “We have smiled very kindly this week.”
  • “Vous avez souri souvent cette semaine.” — “You have smiled often this week.”
  • “Ils ont souri à Marie cette semaine.” — “They have smiled at Marie 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 sourisais souvent avant.” — “I used to smile often before.”
  • “Je sourirai à Marie demain.” — “I will smile at Marie tomorrow.”
  • “Je sourirais toute la journée un jour.” — “I would smile all day one day.”
  • “Bien que il sourise très gentiment” — “Although he smiles very kindly.”

sourire in context

Je souris souvent. Tu souris à Marie. Il sourit toute la journée. Nous sourisons très gentiment.

I smile often. You smile at Marie. He smiles all day. We smile very kindly.

J'ai souri souvent. Il a souri à Marie. Nous avons souri toute la journée.

I have smiled often this week. He has smiled at Marie this week. We have smiled all day this week.

Common mistakes with sourire

Mistake 1

Wrong: Je sourire souvent.

Right: Je souris souvent.

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

Mistake 2

Wrong: Je sourisons à Marie.

Right: Je souris à Marie.

sourisons is the nous form. With je, use souris.

Mistake 3

Wrong: Hier, je souris toute la journée.

Right: Hier, j'ai souri toute la journée.

Yesterday needs the passé composé ai souri, not the present.

Mistake 4

Wrong: Bien que je souris très gentiment.

Right: Bien que je sourise très gentiment.

After bien que French needs the subjunctive sourise.

Mistake 5

Wrong: Je sourisais souvent hier. (said of one finished moment)

Right: J'ai souri souvent hier.

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

Quiz: test yourself on sourire

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

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

    • A) souris
    • B) sourit
    • C) sourisez
    • D) sourisons

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

    • A) sourit
    • B) sourisez
    • C) sourisons
    • D) sourisent

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

    • A) ai souri
    • B) avez souri
    • C) a souri
    • D) avons souri

  4. What is the je form of sourire in the Imperfect?

    • A) sourisais
    • B) sourisiez
    • C) sourisions
    • D) sourisaient

  5. What is the nous form of sourire in the Future?

    • A) sourirons
    • B) sourirai
    • C) souriras
    • D) souriront

  6. What is the tu form of sourire in the Conditional?

    • A) sourirais
    • B) souririons
    • C) sourirait
    • D) souririez

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

    • A) sourisions
    • B) sourisent
    • C) sourise
    • D) sourisiez

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

    • A) sourissiez
    • B) sourissent
    • C) sourisses
    • D) sourît

  9. What is the gerund of sourire?

    • A) sourisant
    • B) buvant
    • C) dormant

  10. What is the past participle of sourire?

  • A) dormi
  • B) souri
  • C) bu

Answer key

  1. A) souris — The tu form of sourire in the present indicative is souris.
  2. C) sourisons — The nous form of sourire in the present indicative is sourisons.
  3. C) a souri — The il/elle form of sourire in the present perfect is a souri.
  4. A) sourisais — The je form of sourire in the imperfect is sourisais.
  5. A) sourirons — The nous form of sourire in the future is sourirons.
  6. A) sourirais — The tu form of sourire in the conditional is sourirais.
  7. C) sourise — The je form of sourire in the present subjunctive is sourise.
  8. D) sourît — The il/elle form of sourire in the imperfect subjunctive is sourît.
  9. A) sourisant — The gerund of sourire is en sourisant; it is used after en for actions in progress.
  10. B) souri — The past participle of sourire is souri; perfect tenses use avoir + souri.

Frequently asked questions

What does sourire mean in English?

sourire means “smile”. You use it for greeting people, for describing a photo, and for talking about being friendly.

Is sourire regular or irregular?

sourire is irregular, and it is irregular in these tenses: present, passe-simple, present-subjunctive, imperative-affirmative, imperative-negative. The gerund is en sourisant and the past participle is souri.

How do I say “I smile” in French?

Say “Je souris souvent.” — “I smile often.” The je form of the present is souris.

Where can I see the full conjugation of sourire?

On the full conjugation page, which has every tense, and on the Sourire Passé Composé Tense Conjugation in French page.

How to practise sourire this week

Pick one tense a day and say five sentences with sourire 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 — souvent, à Marie and toute la journée — and change only the person, so you hear how souris, souris and sourit sound next to each other. On the second day, retell yesterday in the passé composé with ai souri 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 sourisant and souri 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 sourire, so no pronunciation is given rather than an invented one.

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