Travailler Conjugation in French
travailler means “to work” in English, and it is one of the first verbs French learners meet — it sits at number 51 in VerbFlow’s frequency list for French verbs. You use it whenever you talk about working in Paris every day, 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 travailler — 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 travaille à Paris tous les jours tous les jours.” — “I work in Paris every day every day.”
Quick facts
- Infinitive: travailler
- English: to work
- Verb type: Regular
- Irregular in: none — regular in every tense
- Gerund: travaillant
- Past participle: travaillé
- Auxiliary: avoir (all perfect tenses are formed with avoir + 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 travailler, 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 travailler in every tense, you can recognise it in speech even before you can pronounce every form perfectly.
Three things to remember about travailler
- 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 avoir: the present perfect is formed with avoir in the present plus the past participle travaillé. 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 travaillant and the participle is travaillé: 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 travailler. 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 | travaille |
| tu | travailles |
| il/elle | travaille |
| nous | travaillons |
| vous | travaillez |
| ils/elles | travaillent |
The present indicative is used for habits, facts and things happening now. For example: “Je travaille dans un bureau au centre-ville tous les jours.” — “I work in an office in the city centre every day.”
Passé simple
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| je | travaillai |
| tu | travaillas |
| il/elle | travailla |
| nous | travaillâmes |
| vous | travaillâtes |
| ils/elles | travaillèrent |
The passé simple is used for completed actions in the past, mostly in written and literary French. For example: “Tu travaillas dans un bureau au centre-ville hier.” — “You worked in an office in the city centre yesterday.”
Imperfect
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| je | travaillais |
| tu | travaillais |
| il/elle | travaillait |
| nous | travaillions |
| vous | travailliez |
| ils/elles | travaillaient |
The imperfect is used for ongoing or habitual actions in the past, and for background description. For example: “Il travaillait dans un bureau au centre-ville autrefois.” — “He used to work in an office in the city centre in the past.”
Future
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| je | travaillerai |
| tu | travailleras |
| il/elle | travaillera |
| nous | travaillerons |
| vous | travaillerez |
| ils/elles | travailleront |
The future is used for what will happen, for predictions and for probability. For example: “Je travaillerai dans un bureau au centre-ville demain.” — “I will work in an office in the city centre tomorrow.”
Conditional
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| je | travaillerais |
| tu | travaillerais |
| il/elle | travaillerait |
| nous | travaillerions |
| vous | travailleriez |
| ils/elles | travailleraient |
The conditional is used for what would happen, for polite requests and for hypothetical situations. For example: “Tu travaillerais dans un bureau au centre-ville un jour.” — “You would work in an office in the city centre one day.”
Present perfect (passé composé)
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| je | ai travaillé |
| tu | as travaillé |
| il/elle | a travaillé |
| nous | avons travaillé |
| vous | avez travaillé |
| ils/elles | ont travaillé |
The present perfect (passé composé) is used for completed actions in the past, especially in spoken French. For example: “Il a travaillé dans un bureau au centre-ville cette semaine.” — “He has worked in an office in the city centre this week.”
Pluperfect (plus-que-parfait)
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| je | avais travaillé |
| tu | avais travaillé |
| il/elle | avait travaillé |
| nous | avions travaillé |
| vous | aviez travaillé |
| ils/elles | avaient travaillé |
The pluperfect (plus-que-parfait) is used for an action completed before another past action. For example: “J'avais travaillé dans un bureau au centre-ville avant la fête.” — “I had worked in an office in the city centre before the party.”
Future perfect
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| je | aurai travaillé |
| tu | auras travaillé |
| il/elle | aura travaillé |
| nous | aurons travaillé |
| vous | aurez travaillé |
| ils/elles | auront travaillé |
The future perfect is used for what will have happened by a point in the future. For example: “Tu auras travaillé dans un bureau au centre-ville pour demain.” — “You will have worked in an office in the city centre by tomorrow.”
Conditional perfect
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| je | aurais travaillé |
| tu | aurais travaillé |
| il/elle | aurait travaillé |
| nous | aurions travaillé |
| vous | auriez travaillé |
| ils/elles | auraient travaillé |
The conditional perfect is used for what would have happened in a different past. For example: “Il aurait travaillé dans un bureau au centre-ville hier.” — “He would have worked in an office in the city centre yesterday.”
Present subjunctive
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| je | travaille |
| tu | travailles |
| il/elle | travaille |
| nous | travaillions |
| vous | travailliez |
| ils/elles | travaillent |
The present subjunctive is used for wishes, doubts, emotions and opinions after que. For example: “Il est important que je travaille dans un bureau au centre-ville.” — “It is important that I work in an office in the city centre.”
Imperfect subjunctive
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| je | travaillasse |
| tu | travaillasses |
| il/elle | travaillât |
| nous | travaillassions |
| vous | travaillassiez |
| ils/elles | travaillassent |
The imperfect subjunctive is used in formal written French for past wishes and hypotheticals after que. For example: “Il est important que tu travaillasses dans un bureau au centre-ville.” — “It is important that you work in an office in the city centre.”
Imperative (affirmative)
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| tu | travaille |
| nous | travaillons |
| vous | travaillez |
The imperative (affirmative) is used for direct commands and instructions. For example: “Travaille dans un bureau au centre-ville !” — “Work in an office in the city centre!”
Imperative (negative)
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| tu | travaille |
| nous | travaillons |
| vous | travaillez |
The imperative (negative) is used for prohibitions and negative commands. For example: “Ne travaille pas dans un bureau au centre-ville.” — “Do not work in an office in the city centre.”
Gerund
| Form | French |
|---|---|
| Gerund | en travaillant |
The gerund is used for an action happening at the same time as another action, usually after en. For example: “En travaillant à Paris tous les jours, je passe un bon moment.” — “While working in Paris every day, I have a good time.”
Past participle
| Form | French |
|---|---|
| Past participle | travaillé |
The past participle is used with an auxiliary to form the perfect tenses, and as an adjective. For example: “J'ai travaillé à Paris tous les jours cette semaine.” — “I have worked in Paris every day this week.”
Example sentences
Ten natural sentences with travailler, covering different tenses and persons. Say each one aloud, then cover the French and try to produce it from the English.
- “Je travaille à Paris tous les jours tous les jours.” — “I work in Paris every day every day.”
- “Tu travaillas dans un bureau au centre-ville hier.” — “You worked in an office in the city centre yesterday.”
- “Il travaillait le soir après les cours autrefois.” — “He used to work in the evening after class in the past.”
- “Je travaillerai à Paris tous les jours demain.” — “I will work in Paris every day tomorrow.”
- “Tu travaillerais dans un bureau au centre-ville un jour.” — “You would work in an office in the city centre one day.”
- “Il a travaillé le soir après les cours cette semaine.” — “He has worked in the evening after class this week.”
- “J'avais travaillé à Paris tous les jours avant la fête.” — “I had worked in Paris every day before the party.”
- “Tu auras travaillé dans un bureau au centre-ville pour demain.” — “You will have worked in an office in the city centre by tomorrow.”
- “Il est important que il travaille le soir après les cours.” — “It is important that he work in the evening after class.”
- “Travaille à Paris tous les jours !” — “Work in Paris every day!”
Common mistakes
1. Using the infinitive instead of a conjugated form
✗ Wrong: “Je travailler à Paris tous les jours.”
✓ Right: “Je travaille à Paris tous les jours.”
The infinitive travailler never takes a subject. After je you need the conjugated present form travaille.
2. Using the wrong person’s form
✗ Wrong: “Je travaillent à Paris tous les jours.”
✓ Right: “Je travaille à Paris tous les jours.”
travaillent is the ils/elles form, not the je form. Match the verb to the subject every time: je goes with travaille.
3. Using the passé simple for a present habit
✗ Wrong: “Je travaillai à Paris tous les jours tous les jours.”
✓ Right: “Je travaille à Paris tous les jours tous les jours.”
The passé simple travaillai describes one finished past action. For something that happens every day, use the present travaille.
4. Using the indicative after a subjunctive trigger
✗ Wrong: “Il est important que je travaille à Paris tous les jours.”
✓ Right: “Il est important que je travaille à Paris tous les jours.”
After il est important que French needs the subjunctive, so use travaille here, not the indicative travaille.
5. Using the wrong auxiliary in the passé composé
✗ Wrong: “Je suis travaillé à Paris tous les jours.”
✓ Right: “Je ai travaillé à Paris tous les jours.”
The passé composé of travailler is formed with avoir plus the past participle travaillé: the je form is ai travaillé. Check the auxiliary in the table above before you build a perfect tense.
6. Dropping a written accent
✗ Wrong: “travaille” written without its accent
✓ Right: “travaille”
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 travailler. Choose the right form, then check the answer key below.
What is the je form of travailler in the Present indicative?
- A) travaille
- B) travailles
- C) travaillons
- D) travaillez
What is the il/elle form of travailler in the Passé simple?
- A) travailla
- B) travaillai
- C) travaillas
- D) travaillâmes
What is the nous form of travailler in the Imperfect?
- A) travaillions
- B) travaillais
- C) travaillait
- D) travailliez
What is the tu form of travailler in the Future?
- A) travaillera
- B) travaillerons
- C) travailleras
- D) travaillerai
What is the je form of travailler in the Conditional?
- A) travailleriez
- B) travaillerais
- C) travaillerait
- D) travaillerions
What is the il/elle form of travailler in the Present perfect (passé composé)?
- A) ai travaillé
- B) as travaillé
- C) avons travaillé
- D) a travaillé
What is the il/elle form of travailler in the Present subjunctive?
- A) travaille
- B) travailles
- C) travaillions
- D) travailliez
What is the je form of travailler in the Imperfect subjunctive?
- A) travaillassions
- B) travaillasse
- C) travaillasses
- D) travaillât
What is the gerund of travailler?
- A) en écoutant
- B) en attendant
- C) en mangeant
- D) en travaillant
What does travailler mean in English?
- A) to wait
- B) to eat
- C) to work
- D) to listen to
Answer key
- A) travaille — the je form of travailler in the Present indicative is travaille. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
- A) travailla — the il/elle form of travailler in the Passé simple is travailla. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
- A) travaillions — the nous form of travailler in the Imperfect is travaillions. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
- C) travailleras — the tu form of travailler in the Future is travailleras. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
- B) travaillerais — the je form of travailler in the Conditional is travaillerais. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
- D) a travaillé — the il/elle form of travailler in the Present perfect (passé composé) is a travaillé. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
- A) travaille — the il/elle form of travailler in the Present subjunctive is travaille. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
- B) travaillasse — the je form of travailler in the Imperfect subjunctive is travaillasse. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
- D) en travaillant — the gerund of travailler is en travaillant; 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 work — travailler means “to work” in English. The other options are the meanings of neighbouring verbs.
Frequently asked questions
What does travailler mean in English?
travailler means “to work”. It is a core everyday verb, so its present-tense forms are worth learning first.
Is travailler regular or irregular?
travailler is regular: it follows the ordinary -er pattern in every tense. The gerund is travaillant and the past participle is travaillé.
What are the gerund and past participle of travailler?
The gerund is travaillant — use it after en for an action happening at the same time as another action. The past participle is travaillé — use it with avoir for the perfect tenses, as in ai travaillé.
Which auxiliary does travailler take in the passé composé?
travailler takes avoir in the passé composé: the je form is ai travaillé. All four perfect tenses on this page are built with avoir plus the past participle travaillé.
How do I say “I work” in French?
Say “Je travaille à Paris tous les jours tous les jours.” — “I work in Paris every day every day.” The je form of the present is travaille, and it is the form you will use most often.
Related pages
- Full conjugation of travailler — every tense of travailler in one place.
- Travailler in the present tense — the full table and usage rules for one tense.
- Travailler examples and quiz — more example sentences and practice questions for this verb.
- Écouter conjugation — another everyday French verb.
- Attendre conjugation — another everyday French verb.
- Manger 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 travailler with the interactive tool.
- Conjugation Chart Printer — practise travailler with the interactive tool.
- Tense Finder — practise travailler with the interactive tool.