Tomber Conjugation in French
tomber means “to fall” in English, and it is one of the first verbs French learners meet — it sits at number 493 in VerbFlow’s frequency list for French verbs. You use it whenever you talk about falling in the garden, and because it comes up in everyday conversation so often, learning its forms properly pays off from the very first week. This page gives you the complete conjugation of tomber — 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 tombe dans le jardin tous les jours.” — “I fall in the garden every day.”
Quick facts
- Infinitive: tomber
- English: to fall
- Verb type: Regular
- Irregular in: none — regular in every tense
- Gerund: tombant
- Past participle: tombé
- Auxiliary: être (all perfect tenses are formed with être + the past participle)
- Ending: -er verbs; pattern er in the verified tables
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. Learn the spelling of the forms first, and listen to a native speaker for the sounds rather than trusting an invented transcription. The forms below are the ones that matter: once you can read tomber in every tense, you can recognise it in speech even before you can pronounce every form perfectly.
Three things to remember about tomber
- It is regular: every form follows the ordinary -er pattern, so once you know the stem you can build the whole table. The only work is learning the endings, not memorising exceptions.
- The perfect tenses use être: the present perfect is formed with être in the present plus the past participle tombé. The tables on this page give the participle in the masculine singular form, exactly as it appears in the verified dump; agreement with the subject is a separate step that depends on the sentence, not on the verb table.
- The gerund is tombant and the participle is tombé: keep both in mind as you read the tables, because the gerund appears in progressive constructions and the participle appears in every perfect tense. If you know those two forms and the present tense, you already know the skeleton of the whole conjugation.
Full conjugation tables
Every form below comes from VerbFlow’s verified conjugation tables for tomber. 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 | tombe |
| tu | tombes |
| il/elle | tombe |
| nous | tombons |
| vous | tombez |
| ils/elles | tombent |
The present indicative is used for habits, facts and things happening now. For example: “Je tombe amoureux de Paris tous les jours.” — “I fall in love with Paris every day.”
Passé simple
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| je | tombai |
| tu | tombas |
| il/elle | tomba |
| nous | tombâmes |
| vous | tombâtes |
| ils/elles | tombèrent |
The passé simple is used for completed actions in the past, mostly in written and literary French. For example: “Tu tombas amoureux de Paris hier.” — “You fell in love with Paris yesterday.”
Imperfect
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| je | tombais |
| tu | tombais |
| il/elle | tombait |
| nous | tombions |
| vous | tombiez |
| ils/elles | tombaient |
The imperfect is used for ongoing or habitual actions in the past, and for background description. For example: “Il tombait amoureux de Paris autrefois.” — “He used to fall in love with Paris in the past.”
Future
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| je | tomberai |
| tu | tomberas |
| il/elle | tombera |
| nous | tomberons |
| vous | tomberez |
| ils/elles | tomberont |
The future is used for what will happen, for predictions and for probability. For example: “Je tomberai amoureux de Paris demain.” — “I will fall in love with Paris tomorrow.”
Conditional
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| je | tomberais |
| tu | tomberais |
| il/elle | tomberait |
| nous | tomberions |
| vous | tomberiez |
| ils/elles | tomberaient |
The conditional is used for what would happen, for polite requests and for hypothetical situations. For example: “Tu tomberais amoureux de Paris un jour.” — “You would fall in love with Paris one day.”
Present perfect (passé composé)
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| je | suis tombé |
| tu | es tombé |
| il/elle | est tombé |
| nous | sommes tombé |
| vous | êtes tombé |
| ils/elles | sont tombé |
The present perfect (passé composé) is used for completed actions in the past, especially in spoken French. For example: “Il est tombé amoureux de Paris cette semaine.” — “He has fallen in love with Paris this week.”
Pluperfect (plus-que-parfait)
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| je | étais tombé |
| tu | étais tombé |
| il/elle | était tombé |
| nous | étions tombé |
| vous | étiez tombé |
| ils/elles | étaient tombé |
The pluperfect (plus-que-parfait) is used for an action completed before another past action. For example: “J'étais tombé amoureux de Paris avant la fête.” — “I had fallen in love with Paris before the party.”
Future perfect
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| je | serai tombé |
| tu | seras tombé |
| il/elle | sera tombé |
| nous | serons tombé |
| vous | serez tombé |
| ils/elles | seront tombé |
The future perfect is used for what will have happened by a point in the future. For example: “Tu seras tombé amoureux de Paris pour demain.” — “You will have fallen in love with Paris by tomorrow.”
Conditional perfect
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| je | serais tombé |
| tu | serais tombé |
| il/elle | serait tombé |
| nous | serions tombé |
| vous | seriez tombé |
| ils/elles | seraient tombé |
The conditional perfect is used for what would have happened in a different past. For example: “Il serait tombé amoureux de Paris hier.” — “He would have fallen in love with Paris yesterday.”
Present subjunctive
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| je | tombe |
| tu | tombes |
| il/elle | tombe |
| nous | tombions |
| vous | tombiez |
| ils/elles | tombent |
The present subjunctive is used for wishes, doubts, emotions and opinions after que. For example: “Il est important que je tombe amoureux de Paris.” — “It is important that I fall in love with Paris.”
Imperfect subjunctive
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| je | tombasse |
| tu | tombasses |
| il/elle | tombât |
| nous | tombassions |
| vous | tombassiez |
| ils/elles | tombassent |
The imperfect subjunctive is used in formal written French for past wishes and hypotheticals after que. For example: “Il est important que tu tombasses amoureux de Paris.” — “It is important that you fall in love with Paris.”
Imperative (affirmative)
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| tu | tombe |
| nous | tombons |
| vous | tombez |
The imperative (affirmative) is used for direct commands and instructions. For example: “Tombe amoureux de Paris !” — “Fall in love with Paris!”
Imperative (negative)
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| tu | tombe |
| nous | tombons |
| vous | tombez |
The imperative (negative) is used for prohibitions and negative commands. For example: “Ne tombe pas amoureux de Paris.” — “Do not fall in love with Paris.”
Gerund
| Form | French |
|---|---|
| Gerund | en tombant |
The gerund is used for an action happening at the same time as another action, usually after en. For example: “En tombant dans le jardin, je passe un bon moment.” — “While falling in the garden, I have a good time.”
Past participle
| Form | French |
|---|---|
| Past participle | tombé |
The past participle is used with an auxiliary to form the perfect tenses, and as an adjective. For example: “Je suis tombé dans le jardin cette semaine.” — “I have fallen in the garden this week.”
Example sentences
Ten natural sentences with tomber, covering different tenses and persons. Say each one aloud, then cover the French and try to produce it from the English.
- “Je tombe dans le jardin tous les jours.” — “I fall in the garden every day.”
- “Tu tombas amoureux de Paris hier.” — “You fell in love with Paris yesterday.”
- “Il tombait de vélo sur la route autrefois.” — “He used to fall off my bike on the road in the past.”
- “Je tomberai dans le jardin demain.” — “I will fall in the garden tomorrow.”
- “Tu tomberais amoureux de Paris un jour.” — “You would fall in love with Paris one day.”
- “Il est tombé de vélo sur la route cette semaine.” — “He has fallen off my bike on the road this week.”
- “J'étais tombé dans le jardin avant la fête.” — “I had fallen in the garden before the party.”
- “Tu seras tombé amoureux de Paris pour demain.” — “You will have fallen in love with Paris by tomorrow.”
- “Il est important que il tombe de vélo sur la route.” — “It is important that he fall off my bike on the road.”
- “Tombe dans le jardin !” — “Fall in the garden!”
Common mistakes
1. 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 present form tombe.
2. Using the wrong person’s form
✗ Wrong: “Je tombent dans le jardin.”
✓ Right: “Je tombe dans le jardin.”
tombent is the ils/elles form, not the je form. Match the verb to the subject every time: je goes with tombe.
3. Using the passé simple for a present habit
✗ Wrong: “Je tombai dans le jardin tous les jours.”
✓ Right: “Je tombe dans le jardin tous les jours.”
The passé simple tombai describes one finished past action. For something that happens every day, use the present tombe.
4. Using the indicative after a subjunctive trigger
✗ Wrong: “Il est important que je tombe dans le jardin.”
✓ Right: “Il est important que je tombe dans le jardin.”
After il est important que French needs the subjunctive, so use tombe here, not the indicative tombe.
5. Using the wrong auxiliary in the passé composé
✗ Wrong: “Je ai tombé dans le jardin.”
✓ Right: “Je suis tombé dans le jardin.”
The passé composé of tomber is formed with être plus the past participle tombé: the je form is suis tombé. Check the auxiliary in the table above before you build a perfect tense.
6. Dropping a written accent
✗ Wrong: “tombe” written without its accent
✓ Right: “tombe”
Accents are part of the spelling in French. Write the form exactly as it appears in the table, accent included, or it looks like a different word.
Quiz: test yourself
Ten questions on tomber. Choose the right form, 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 il/elle form of tomber in the Passé simple?
- A) tombâmes
- B) tomba
- C) tombai
- D) tombas
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 perfect (passé composé)?
- A) sommes tombé
- B) est tombé
- C) suis tombé
- D) es tombé
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 Imperfect subjunctive?
- A) tombât
- B) tombassions
- C) tombasse
- D) tombasses
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.
- B) tomba — the il/elle form of tomber in the Passé simple is tomba. 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) 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) tombe — the il/elle form of tomber in the Present subjunctive is tombe. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
- C) tombasse — the je form of tomber in the Imperfect subjunctive is tombasse. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
- A) en tombant — the gerund of tomber is en tombant; it is used after en for actions happening at the same time as another action. 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: it follows the ordinary -er pattern in every tense. The gerund is tombant and the past participle is tombé.
What are the gerund and past participle of tomber?
The gerund is tombant — use it after en for an action happening at the same time as another action. The past participle is tombé — use it with être for the perfect tenses, as in suis tombé.
Which auxiliary does tomber take in the passé composé?
tomber takes être in the passé composé: the je form is suis tombé. All four perfect tenses on this page are built with être plus the past participle tombé.
How do I say “I fall” in French?
Say “Je tombe dans le jardin tous les jours.” — “I fall in the garden every day.” The je form of the present is tombe, and it is the form you will use most often.
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 Conjugator — practise tomber with the interactive tool.
- Conjugation Chart Printer — practise tomber with the interactive tool.
- Tense Finder — practise tomber with the interactive tool.