Vendre Conjugation in French
vendre means “sell” in English, and it is a verb French learners meet early — it sits in VerbFlow’s frequency list for French. You use it for selling something second-hand, for talking about a shop, and for describing a sale. 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 vendre — 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 vends ma voiture.” — “I sell my car.”
Quick facts
- Infinitive: vendre
- English: sell
- Verb type: Regular
- Irregular in: none — it is regular in every tense
- Gerund: en vendant
- Past participle: vendu
- Auxiliary: avoir (all perfect tenses are formed with avoir + the past participle)
Pronunciation
Pronunciation is not listed on this page: the verified tables do not include IPA for vendre, so no pronunciation is given rather than an invented one.
Full conjugation tables
Every form below comes from VerbFlow’s verified conjugation tables for vendre. 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 | vends |
| tu | vends |
| il/elle | vend |
| nous | vendons |
| vous | vendez |
| ils/elles | vendent |
Passé simple
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| je | vendis |
| tu | vendis |
| il/elle | vendit |
| nous | vendîmes |
| vous | vendîtes |
| ils/elles | vendirent |
Imperfect
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| je | vendais |
| tu | vendais |
| il/elle | vendait |
| nous | vendions |
| vous | vendiez |
| ils/elles | vendaient |
Future
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| je | vendrai |
| tu | vendras |
| il/elle | vendra |
| nous | vendrons |
| vous | vendrez |
| ils/elles | vendront |
Conditional
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| je | vendrais |
| tu | vendrais |
| il/elle | vendrait |
| nous | vendrions |
| vous | vendriez |
| ils/elles | vendraient |
Present subjunctive
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| je | vende |
| tu | vendes |
| il/elle | vende |
| nous | vendions |
| vous | vendiez |
| ils/elles | vendent |
Imperfect subjunctive
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| je | vendisse |
| tu | vendisses |
| il/elle | vendît |
| nous | vendissions |
| vous | vendissiez |
| ils/elles | vendissent |
Present perfect
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| je | ai vendu |
| tu | as vendu |
| il/elle | a vendu |
| nous | avons vendu |
| vous | avez vendu |
| ils/elles | ont vendu |
Pluperfect (past perfect)
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| je | avais vendu |
| tu | avais vendu |
| il/elle | avait vendu |
| nous | avions vendu |
| vous | aviez vendu |
| ils/elles | avaient vendu |
Future perfect
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| je | aurai vendu |
| tu | auras vendu |
| il/elle | aura vendu |
| nous | aurons vendu |
| vous | aurez vendu |
| ils/elles | auront vendu |
Conditional perfect
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| je | aurais vendu |
| tu | aurais vendu |
| il/elle | aurait vendu |
| nous | aurions vendu |
| vous | auriez vendu |
| ils/elles | auraient vendu |
Imperative (affirmative)
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| tu | vends |
| nous | vendons |
| vous | vendez |
Imperative (negative)
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| tu | vends |
| nous | vendons |
| vous | vendez |
Gerund and past participle
| Form | French |
|---|---|
| Gerund | en vendant |
| Past participle | vendu |
When to use each tense
Present indicative
The present indicative is used for habits, facts and things happening now. For example: “Je vends des livres.” — “I sell books.”
Passé simple
The passé simple is used for completed actions in the past, mainly in written and literary French. For example: “Je vendis des livres hier.” — “I sold books yesterday.”
Imperfect
The imperfect is used for ongoing or habitual actions in the past, and background description. For example: “Je vendais des livres avant.” — “I used to sell books before.”
Future
The future is used for what will happen, predictions and plans. For example: “Je vendrai des livres demain.” — “I will sell books tomorrow.”
Conditional
The conditional is used for what would happen, polite requests and hypothetical situations. For example: “Je vendrais des livres un jour.” — “I would sell books one day.”
Present subjunctive
The present subjunctive is used for wishes, doubts, emotions and opinions after que. For example: “Bien que je vende des livres” — “Although I sell books.”
Imperfect subjunctive
The imperfect subjunctive is used for the past subjunctive: wishes and hypotheticals about the past, in formal and literary French. For example: “Bien que je vendisse des livres” — “Although I sell books.”
Present perfect
The present perfect is used for recent past actions and life experience; this is the everyday spoken past tense, the passé composé. For example: “J'ai vendu des livres cette semaine.” — “I have sold books this week.”
Pluperfect (past perfect)
The pluperfect (past perfect) is used for an action completed before another past action. For example: “J'avais vendu des livres avant la fête.” — “I had sold books before the party.”
Future perfect
The future perfect is used for what will have happened by a point in the future. For example: “J'aurai vendu des livres pour demain.” — “I will have sold books by tomorrow.”
Conditional perfect
The conditional perfect is used for what would have happened in a different past. For example: “J'aurais vendu des livres hier.” — “I would have sold books yesterday.”
Imperative (affirmative)
The imperative (affirmative) is used for direct commands and instructions. For example: “vends des livres !” — “Sell books!”
Imperative (negative)
The imperative (negative) is used for prohibitions and negative commands. For example: “Ne vends pas des livres !” — “Don't sell books!”
Gerund and past participle
The gerund en vendant is used after en for an action in progress, and the past participle vendu builds the perfect tenses with avoir. For example: “J'ai vendu la maison cette semaine.” — “I have sold the house this week.”
Example sentences
Ten natural sentences with vendre, covering different tenses and persons. Say each one aloud, then cover the French and try to produce it from the English.
- “Je vends ma voiture.” — “I sell my car.”
- “Tu vendis des livres hier.” — “You sold books yesterday.”
- “Il vendait la maison avant.” — “He used to sell the house before.”
- “Je vendrai des légumes demain.” — “I will sell vegetables tomorrow.”
- “Tu vendrais ma voiture un jour.” — “You would sell my car one day.”
- “Il a vendu des livres cette semaine.” — “He has sold books this week.”
- “J'avais vendu la maison avant la fête.” — “I had sold the house before the party.”
- “Tu auras vendu des légumes pour demain.” — “You will have sold vegetables by tomorrow.”
- “Bien que il vende ma voiture” — “Although he sells my car.”
- “vends des livres !” — “Sell books!”
Common mistakes
1. Using the infinitive instead of a conjugated form
✗ Wrong: “Je vendre ma voiture.”
✓ Right: “Je vends ma voiture.”
The infinitive vendre never takes a subject. After je you need the conjugated present form vends.
2. Using the wrong person
✗ Wrong: “Je vendons des livres.”
✓ Right: “Je vends des livres.”
vendons is the nous form. With je the present form is vends — check the person in the table before you speak.
3. Using the present for a finished past action
✗ Wrong: “Hier, je vends ma voiture.”
✓ Right: “Hier, j'ai vendu ma voiture.”
The present vends describes now. For something finished yesterday, use the passé composé ai vendu.
4. Using the passé simple in everyday speech
✗ Wrong: “Hier, je vendis la maison.” (in casual conversation)
✓ Right: “Hier, j'ai vendu la maison.”
The passé simple vendis belongs in novels and formal writing. In everyday speech, say the passé composé ai vendu.
5. Using the indicative after a subjunctive trigger
✗ Wrong: “Bien que je vends ma voiture.”
✓ Right: “Bien que je vende ma voiture.”
After bien que French needs the subjunctive, so use vende here, not the indicative vends.
6. Using the imperfect for a single finished action
✗ Wrong: “Je vendais des légumes avant.” (said of one finished moment)
✓ Right: “J'ai vendu des légumes avant.”
The imperfect vendais describes something ongoing or repeated in the past. For one finished action, use the passé composé ai vendu.
Quiz: test yourself
Ten questions on vendre. Choose the right form, then check the answer key below.
What is the je form of vendre in the Present indicative?
- A) vend
- B) vendez
- C) vends
- D) vendent
What is the il/elle form of vendre in the Passé simple?
- A) vendîtes
- B) vendirent
- C) vendit
- D) vendîmes
What is the nous form of vendre in the Imperfect?
- A) vendait
- B) vendiez
- C) vendions
- D) vendais
What is the tu form of vendre in the Future?
- A) vendrai
- B) vendra
- C) vendras
- D) vendront
What is the je form of vendre in the Conditional?
- A) vendriez
- B) vendrais
- C) vendraient
- D) vendrait
What is the il/elle form of vendre in the Present subjunctive?
- A) vendions
- B) vendes
- C) vendent
- D) vende
What is the je form of vendre in the Imperfect subjunctive?
- A) vendisse
- B) vendissiez
- C) vendisses
- D) vendissions
What is the gerund of vendre?
- A) dormant
- B) buvant
- C) vendant
What is the past participle of vendre?
- A) bu
- B) vendu
- C) dormi
What does vendre mean in English?
- A) sleep
- B) drink
- C) open
- D) sell
Answer key
- C) vends — The je form of vendre in the present indicative is vends.
- C) vendit — The il/elle form of vendre in the passé simple is vendit.
- C) vendions — The nous form of vendre in the imperfect is vendions.
- C) vendras — The tu form of vendre in the future is vendras.
- B) vendrais — The je form of vendre in the conditional is vendrais.
- D) vende — The il/elle form of vendre in the present subjunctive is vende.
- A) vendisse — The je form of vendre in the imperfect subjunctive is vendisse.
- C) vendant — The gerund of vendre is en vendant; it is used after en for actions in progress.
- B) vendu — The past participle of vendre is vendu; perfect tenses use avoir + vendu.
- D) sell — vendre means “sell” in English.
Frequently asked questions
What does vendre mean in English?
vendre means “sell”. You use it for selling something second-hand, for talking about a shop, and for describing a sale. It is a core everyday verb, so its present-tense forms are worth learning first.
Is vendre regular or irregular?
vendre is regular, and it is irregular in these tenses: none — it is regular in every tense. The gerund is en vendant and the past participle is vendu.
What are the gerund and past participle of vendre?
The gerund is en vendant — use it after en for actions in progress. The past participle is vendu — use it with avoir for the perfect tenses, as in ai vendu.
How do I say “I sell” in French?
Say “Je vends ma voiture.” — “I sell my car.” The je form of the present is vends, and it is the form you will use most often.
What is the difference between vendre and acheter?
vendre means “sell” while acheter means “buy” — they describe different actions, so they are not interchangeable. Compare the full table for acheter and check the meaning in context before you choose.
Related pages
- Vendre Present Tense Conjugation in French
- Vendre Examples, Sentences & Quiz in French
- Acheter conjugation
- Payer conjugation
- Gagner conjugation
- French verbs — the full hub of French conjugation pages.
- Spanish verbs — the full hub of Spanish conjugation pages.
- VerbFlow home — all languages and tools.
- Verb Conjugator — practise vendre with the interactive tool.
- Verb Quiz — practise vendre with the interactive tool.
- Present Tense Conjugator — practise vendre with the interactive tool.