Tomber: Examples, Sentences and Quiz in French
Introduction
Tomber means “to fall”, and it is one of the most useful verbs in French — you will meet it in conversation, in books, in films and in every textbook. This page puts the verb to work: twelve example sentences across the tenses, a short dialogue you can act out, a tour of the verb in its most important tenses, the mistakes learners make most often, and a ten-question quiz with explained answers. Every form on this page comes from the verified conjugation tables for tomber, so you can trust what you read here. Start with the examples, say them aloud, and then test yourself with the quiz at the end.
Example sentences
Twelve sentences with tomber, in different tenses and with different subjects. Read the French first, guess the meaning, then check the English.
- “Je tombe dans le jardin tous les jours.” — “I fall in the garden every day.”
- “Tu tombes amoureux de Paris tous les jours.” — “You fall in love with Paris every day.”
- “Je suis tombé de vélo sur la route cette semaine.” — “I have fallen off my bike on the road this week.”
- “Il tombait dans le jardin autrefois.” — “He used to fall in the garden in the past.”
- “Nous tomberons amoureux de Paris demain.” — “We will fall in love with Paris tomorrow.”
- “Tu es tombé de vélo sur la route cette semaine.” — “You have fallen off my bike on the road this week.”
- “Je tomberais dans le jardin un jour.” — “I would fall in the garden one day.”
- “Il est important que il tombe amoureux de Paris.” — “It is important that he fall in love with Paris.”
- “Nous étions tombé de vélo sur la route avant la fête.” — “We had fallen off my bike on the road before the party.”
- “Il tombera dans le jardin demain.” — “He will fall in the garden tomorrow.”
- “Ils tombent amoureux de Paris tous les jours.” — “They fall in love with Paris every day.”
- “Tombe de vélo sur la route !” — “Fall off my bike on the road!”
A short dialogue
Marie and Pierre are talking about in the garden. Read the dialogue aloud, one voice per person, and notice how tomber changes with the tense and the subject. Every form of tomber below is taken from the verified tables.
Marie : Tu fais quoi, ce soir ? Pierre : “Je tombe dans le jardin tous les jours.” — “I fall in the garden every day.” Marie : Et demain ? Pierre : “Je tomberai amoureux de Paris demain.” — “I will fall in love with Paris tomorrow.” Marie : Tu as fait ça hier aussi ? Pierre : “Je suis tombé de vélo sur la route cette semaine.” — “I have fallen off my bike on the road this week.” Marie : Tu ferais ça un jour ? Pierre : “Je tomberais dans le jardin un jour.” — “I would fall in the garden one day.”
Notice how the dialogue moves through time: the present for what is happening now, the future for tomorrow, the passé composé for yesterday, and the conditional for what someone would do one day. The verb stays the same — only the tense changes — and that is the whole point of learning a conjugation table: one verb, many moments.
Tomber in different tenses
The same verb does different jobs in different tenses. Here are the six uses of tomber that matter most, each with a sentence you can copy and adapt.
The present: habits and facts
In the present, tomber describes habits, facts and what is happening now. The je form is tombe: “Je tombe dans le jardin tous les jours.” — “I fall in the garden every day.”
The imperfect: the past as it used to be
In the imperfect, tomber describes the past as it used to be — background, habit, an action in progress. The il form is tombait: “Il tombait amoureux de Paris autrefois.” — “He used to fall in love with Paris in the past.”
The passé composé: finished actions
In the passé composé, tomber reports one finished action, built with être plus the participle tombé. The je form is suis tombé: “Je suis tombé de vélo sur la route cette semaine.” — “I have fallen off my bike on the road this week.”
The future: what will happen
In the future, tomber talks about what will happen. The nous form is tomberons: “Nous tomberons dans le jardin demain.” — “We will fall in the garden tomorrow.”
The conditional: what would happen
In the conditional, tomber talks about what would happen. The tu form is tomberais: “Tu tomberais amoureux de Paris un jour.” — “You would fall in love with Paris one day.”
The subjunctive: wishes and doubts
In the subjunctive, tomber appears after triggers such as il est important que. The form is tombe, and the sentence keeps the same complement as the other tenses: “Il est important que je tombe de vélo sur la route.” — “It is important that I fall off my bike on the road.”
Common mistakes
Using the infinitive instead of a conjugated form
✗ Wrong: “Je tomber dans le jardin.”
✓ Right: “Je tombe dans le jardin.”
The infinitive tomber never takes a subject. After je you need the conjugated form tombe.
Using the wrong person’s form
✗ Wrong: “Tu tombe dans le jardin.”
✓ Right: “Tu tombes dans le jardin.”
tombe is the je form. With tu you need tombes. Check the subject before you choose the form.
Using the present for a finished past action
✗ Wrong: “Je tombe dans le jardin hier.”
✓ Right: “Je suis tombé dans le jardin hier.”
The time word hier points to the past, so a finished action needs the passé composé suis tombé, not the present.
Using the indicative after a subjunctive trigger
✗ Wrong: “Il est important que tu tombes amoureux de Paris.”
✓ Right: “Il est important que tu tombes amoureux de Paris.”
After il est important que French needs the subjunctive: tombes, not the indicative tombes.
Forgetting the auxiliary in the passé composé
✗ Wrong: “Je tombé dans le jardin.”
✓ Right: “Je suis tombé dans le jardin.”
The passé composé of tomber needs the auxiliary être plus the participle tombé: the full je form is suis tombé.
Quiz: test yourself
Ten questions on tomber. Choose the right answer, then check the answer key below.
What is the je form of tomber in the Present indicative?
- A) tombez
- B) tombe
- C) tombes
- D) tombons
What is the tu form of tomber in the Present indicative?
- A) tombons
- B) tombez
- C) tombes
- D) tombe
What is the il/elle form of tomber in the Present perfect (passé composé)?
- A) sommes tombé
- B) est tombé
- C) suis tombé
- D) es tombé
What is the nous form of tomber in the Imperfect?
- A) tombiez
- B) tombions
- C) tombais
- D) tombait
What is the tu form of tomber in the Future?
- A) tomberai
- B) tombera
- C) tomberons
- D) tomberas
What is the je form of tomber in the Conditional?
- A) tomberions
- B) tomberiez
- C) tomberais
- D) tomberait
What is the il/elle form of tomber in the Present subjunctive?
- A) tombiez
- B) tombe
- C) tombes
- D) tombions
What is the je form of tomber in the Pluperfect (plus-que-parfait)?
- A) était tombé
- B) étions tombé
- C) étiez tombé
- D) étais tombé
What is the gerund of tomber?
- A) en tombant
- B) en comprenant
- C) en commençant
- D) en appelant
What does tomber mean in English?
- A) to begin
- B) to call
- C) to fall
- D) to understand
Answer key
- B) tombe — the je form of tomber in the Present indicative is tombe. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
- C) tombes — the tu form of tomber in the Present indicative is tombes. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
- B) est tombé — the il/elle form of tomber in the Present perfect (passé composé) is est tombé. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
- B) tombions — the nous form of tomber in the Imperfect is tombions. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
- D) tomberas — the tu form of tomber in the Future is tomberas. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
- C) tomberais — the je form of tomber in the Conditional is tomberais. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
- B) tombe — the il/elle form of tomber in the Present subjunctive is tombe. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
- D) étais tombé — the je form of tomber in the Pluperfect (plus-que-parfait) is étais tombé. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
- A) en tombant — the gerund of tomber is en tombant. The other options are the gerunds of neighbouring verbs.
- C) to fall — tomber means “to fall” in English. The other options are the meanings of neighbouring verbs.
Frequently asked questions
What does tomber mean in English?
tomber means “to fall”. It is a core everyday verb, so its present-tense forms are worth learning first.
Is tomber regular or irregular?
tomber is regular in every tense. The gerund is tombant and the past participle is tombé.
How do I practise tomber every day?
Say one sentence with tomber in the present, one in the passé composé and one in the future every day, using the examples on this page as models — for example, “Je tombe dans le jardin tous les jours.”, “Je suis tombé dans le jardin cette semaine.” and “Je tomberai dans le jardin demain.”. Then take the quiz again and check your answers against the key.
Pronunciation
Pronunciation is not listed on this page: the verified tables do not include IPA for tomber, so no pronunciation is given rather than an invented one.
Related pages
- Full conjugation of tomber — every tense of tomber in one place.
- Tomber in the present tense — the full table and usage rules for one tense.
- Tomber examples and quiz — more example sentences and practice questions for this verb.
- Comprendre conjugation — another everyday French verb.
- Commencer conjugation — another everyday French verb.
- Appeler conjugation — another everyday French verb.
- French verbs — the full hub of French conjugation pages.
- Spanish verbs — the full hub of Spanish conjugation pages.
- VerbFlow home — all languages, tools and verb lists.
- Spanish Verb Quiz — practise tomber with the interactive tool.
- Conjugation Practice — practise tomber with the interactive tool.
- Verb Translator — practise tomber with the interactive tool.