Vieillir Conjugation in French
vieillir means “to grow old” in English, and it is a verb French learners meet early and use often. This page gives you the complete conjugation of vieillir — 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 vieillis avec le temps.” — “I grow old with time.” Learning the forms on this page first, before you try to use the verb in conversation, saves you from guessing later: French spelling and endings change with the person and the tense, and vieillir is no exception. Work through the tables one tense at a time, say each form aloud, and then test yourself with the quiz at the end.
Quick facts
- Infinitive: vieillir
- English: to grow old
- Verb type: Regular -ir verb
- Irregular in: — (regular in every tense)
- Gerund: en vieillissant
- Past participle: vieilli
- Auxiliary: avoir (all perfect tenses are formed with avoir + the past participle)
Pronunciation is not listed on this page: the verified tables do not include IPA for vieillir, so no pronunciation is given rather than an invented one.
Full conjugation tables
Every form below comes from VerbFlow’s verified conjugation tables for vieillir. 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 | vieillis |
| tu | vieillis |
| il/elle | vieillit |
| nous | vieillissons |
| vous | vieillissez |
| ils/elles | vieillissent |
Passé simple
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| je | vieillis |
| tu | vieillis |
| il/elle | vieillit |
| nous | vieillîmes |
| vous | vieillîtes |
| ils/elles | vieillirent |
Imperfect
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| je | vieillissais |
| tu | vieillissais |
| il/elle | vieillissait |
| nous | vieillissions |
| vous | vieillissiez |
| ils/elles | vieillissaient |
Future
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| je | vieillirai |
| tu | vieilliras |
| il/elle | vieillira |
| nous | vieillirons |
| vous | vieillirez |
| ils/elles | vieilliront |
Conditional
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| je | vieillirais |
| tu | vieillirais |
| il/elle | vieillirait |
| nous | vieillirions |
| vous | vieilliriez |
| ils/elles | vieilliraient |
Present perfect (passé composé)
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| je | ai vieilli |
| tu | as vieilli |
| il/elle | a vieilli |
| nous | avons vieilli |
| vous | avez vieilli |
| ils/elles | ont vieilli |
Pluperfect (plus-que-parfait)
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| je | avais vieilli |
| tu | avais vieilli |
| il/elle | avait vieilli |
| nous | avions vieilli |
| vous | aviez vieilli |
| ils/elles | avaient vieilli |
Future perfect
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| je | aurai vieilli |
| tu | auras vieilli |
| il/elle | aura vieilli |
| nous | aurons vieilli |
| vous | aurez vieilli |
| ils/elles | auront vieilli |
Conditional perfect
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| je | aurais vieilli |
| tu | aurais vieilli |
| il/elle | aurait vieilli |
| nous | aurions vieilli |
| vous | auriez vieilli |
| ils/elles | auraient vieilli |
Present subjunctive
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| je | vieillisse |
| tu | vieillisses |
| il/elle | vieillisse |
| nous | vieillissions |
| vous | vieillissiez |
| ils/elles | vieillissent |
Imperfect subjunctive
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| je | vieillisse |
| tu | vieillisses |
| il/elle | vieillît |
| nous | vieillissions |
| vous | vieillissiez |
| ils/elles | vieillissent |
Imperative (affirmative)
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| tu | vieillis |
| nous | vieillissons |
| vous | vieillissez |
Imperative (negative)
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| tu | vieillis |
| nous | vieillissons |
| vous | vieillissez |
Gerund and past participle
| Form | French |
|---|---|
| Gerund | en vieillissant |
| Past participle | vieilli |
When to use each tense
Present indicative
The present indicative is used for habits, facts and things happening now. For example: “Je vieillis avec le temps.” — “I grow old with time.”
Passé simple
The passé simple is used for completed actions in the past, mainly in written and literary French. For example: “Tu vieillis avec le temps.” — “You grew old with time one day.”
Imperfect
The imperfect is used for ongoing or habitual actions in the past, and background description. For example: “Il vieillissait avec le temps quand j’étais jeune.” — “He used to grow old with time.”
Future
The future is used for what will happen, predictions and promises. For example: “Nous vieillirons avec le temps.” — “We will grow old with time tomorrow.”
Conditional
The conditional is used for what would happen, polite requests and hypothetical situations. For example: “Vous vieilliriez avec le temps.” — “You would grow old with time if you could.”
Present perfect (passé composé)
The present perfect (passé composé) is used for recent past actions and completed events. With vieillir it is formed with avoir + the past participle vieilli. For example: “Ils ont vieilli avec le temps hier.” — “They have grown old with time.”
Pluperfect (plus-que-parfait)
The pluperfect (plus-que-parfait) is used for an action completed before another past action. For example: “J'avais vieilli avec le temps avant la fête.” — “I had grown old with time before the party.”
Future perfect
The future perfect is used for what will have happened by a point in the future. For example: “Tu auras vieilli avec le temps.” — “You will have grown old with time by tomorrow evening.”
Conditional perfect
The conditional perfect is used for what would have happened in a different past. For example: “Il aurait vieilli avec le temps.” — “He would have grown old with time if he had been able to.”
Present subjunctive
The present subjunctive is used for wishes, doubts, emotions and opinions after que. For example: “Il faut que je vieillisse avec le temps.” — “It is important that I grow old with time.”
Imperfect subjunctive
The imperfect subjunctive is used for the past subjunctive: wishes and hypotheticals about the past, mainly in formal writing. For example: “Il fallait que je vieillisse avec le temps.” — “It was important that I grow old with time.”
Imperative (affirmative)
The imperative (affirmative) is used for direct commands and instructions. For example: “Vieillis avec le temps !” — “Grow old with time!”
Imperative (negative)
The imperative (negative) is used for prohibitions and negative commands. For example: “Vieillis avec le temps !” — “Do not grow old with time!”
Gerund and past participle
The gerund is en vieillissant — “while growing old” — used after en to say how something happens. The past participle is vieilli, used with avoir for the perfect tenses, as in ai vieilli.
Example sentences
Ten natural sentences with vieillir, covering different tenses and persons. Say each one aloud, then cover the French and try to produce it from the English.
- “Je vieillis avec le temps.” — “I grow old with time.”
- “Tu vieillis avec le temps.” — “You grow old with time.”
- “Il vieillissait avec le temps.” — “He used to grow old with time.”
- “Nous vieillirons avec le temps.” — “We will grow old with time tomorrow.”
- “Je vieillirais avec le temps.” — “I would grow old with time if I could.”
- “Tu as vieilli avec le temps.” — “You have grown old with time.”
- “Il avait vieilli avec le temps.” — “He had grown old with time before the party.”
- “Nous aurons vieilli avec le temps.” — “We will have grown old with time by tomorrow evening.”
- “Il faut que je vieillisse avec le temps.” — “It is important that I grow old with time.”
- “Vieillis avec le temps !” — “Grow old with time!”
Common mistakes
1. Using the infinitive instead of a conjugated form
✗ Wrong: “Je vieillir avec le temps.”
✓ Right: “Je vieillis avec le temps.”
The infinitive vieillir never takes a subject. After je you need the conjugated present form vieillis.
2. Confusing vieillir with grandir
✗ Wrong: “Je vieillis vite cette année.” (meant as “grandir”)
✓ Right: “Je vieillis avec le temps.”
vieillir means “to grow old”; grandir means “to grow”. Keep the two verbs apart by their meaning, not by their sound.
3. Using the wrong auxiliary for the passé composé
✗ Wrong: “Je suis vieilli avec le temps.”
✓ Right: “J'ai vieilli avec le temps.”
With vieillir the passé composé is formed with avoir, not être: ai vieilli.
4. Using the indicative after a subjunctive trigger
✗ Wrong: “Il faut que je vieillis avec le temps.”
✓ Right: “Il faut que je vieillisse avec le temps.”
After il faut que French needs the subjunctive, so use vieillisse here, not the indicative vieillis.
5. Using the present for a finished past event
✗ Wrong: “Je vieillis avec le temps hier.”
✓ Right: “J'ai vieilli avec le temps hier.”
Yesterday’s finished event needs the passé composé (ai vieilli), not the present.
Quiz: test yourself
What is the je form of vieillir in the Present indicative?
- A) vieillit
- B) vieillis
- C) vieillissent
- D) vieillissez
What is the ils/elles form of vieillir in the Present indicative?
- A) vieillissent
- B) vieillissez
- C) vieillis
- D) vieillit
What is the il/elle form of vieillir in the Passé simple?
- A) vieillîmes
- B) vieillirent
- C) vieillîtes
- D) vieillit
What is the nous form of vieillir in the Imperfect?
- A) vieillissaient
- B) vieillissions
- C) vieillissais
- D) vieillissiez
What is the tu form of vieillir in the Future?
- A) vieillirai
- B) vieillirez
- C) vieillirons
- D) vieilliras
What is the je form of vieillir in the Conditional?
- A) vieilliriez
- B) vieilliraient
- C) vieillirait
- D) vieillirais
What is the il/elle form of vieillir in the Present perfect (passé composé)?
- A) ai vieilli
- B) avons vieilli
- C) ont vieilli
- D) a vieilli
What is the vous form of vieillir in the Pluperfect (plus-que-parfait)?
- A) avions vieilli
- B) aviez vieilli
- C) avais vieilli
- D) avaient vieilli
What is the gerund of vieillir?
- A) vieilli
- B) vieillirai
- C) vieillis
- D) en vieillissant
What is the past participle of vieillir?
- A) vieillissais
- B) vieilli
- C) vieillis
- D) en vieillissant
Answer key
- B) vieillis — the je form of vieillir in the present indicative is vieillis.
- A) vieillissent — the ils/elles form of vieillir in the present indicative is vieillissent.
- D) vieillit — the il/elle form of vieillir in the passé simple is vieillit.
- B) vieillissions — the nous form of vieillir in the imperfect is vieillissions.
- D) vieilliras — the tu form of vieillir in the future is vieilliras.
- D) vieillirais — the je form of vieillir in the conditional is vieillirais.
- D) a vieilli — the il/elle form of vieillir in the present perfect (passé composé) is a vieilli.
- B) aviez vieilli — the vous form of vieillir in the pluperfect (plus-que-parfait) is aviez vieilli.
- D) en vieillissant — the gerund of vieillir is en vieillissant; it is used after en for actions in progress.
- B) vieilli — the past participle of vieillir is vieilli; perfect tenses use avoir + vieilli.
Frequently asked questions
What does vieillir mean in English?
vieillir means “to grow old”. You use it in everyday situations like the examples on this page — for example, “Je vieillis avec le temps.” (“I grow old with time.”). It is a core everyday verb, so its present-tense forms are worth learning first.
Is vieillir regular or irregular?
vieillir is regular: its endings follow the standard -ir pattern in every tense. The gerund is en vieillissant and the past participle is vieilli.
What are the gerund and past participle of vieillir?
The gerund is en vieillissant — use it after en for actions in progress. The past participle is vieilli — use it with avoir for the perfect tenses, as in ai vieilli.
What is the difference between vieillir and grandir?
vieillir means “to grow old”, while grandir means “to grow”. They are easy to mix up because they appear in similar situations, but their meanings are different. If you are unsure, check the full conjugation page for grandir and compare the meanings in context.
How do I say “I grow old” in French?
Say “Je vieillis avec le temps.” — “I grow old with time.” The je form of the present is vieillis, and it is the form you will use most often.
How to learn vieillir
Start with the present tense: vieillis, vieillis, vieillit, vieillissons, vieillissez, vieillissent. Say them in order every day for a week, then add the passé composé — ai vieilli — and the imperfect — vieillissais. Next, learn the future (vieillirai) and the conditional (vieillirais), which share the same stem. Finally, tackle the subjunctive (vieillisse) and the imperative (vieillis). Write one sentence of your own in each tense, using the examples above as models, and check every form against the tables. When you can produce all six persons of the present without looking, move on to the present-tense quiz.
Related pages
- vieillir in the present tense — the full table and uses for this verb in the present tense.
- vieillir examples and quiz — more example sentences and practice questions for this verb.
- French verbs — the full hub of French conjugation pages.
- French present tense guide — how this tense works for regular verbs.
- Grandir conjugation — another French verb to practise with.
- Guerir conjugation — another French verb to practise with.
- Spanish verbs — the full hub of Spanish conjugation pages.
- Verb Conjugator — practise vieillir with the interactive tool.
- Verb Quiz — practise vieillir with the interactive tool.
- Present Tense Conjugator — practise the present tense with the interactive tool.
- VerbFlow home — back to the start.