visiter Present Tense Conjugation in French

The present of visiter — visit — is the form you need for habits, facts and things happening now. visiter is the verb for talking about tourism: it comes up whenever you talk about describing a weekend trip or showing friends around. This page gives you the complete present table for visiter, how it is formed, when to use it, the mistakes learners make with it, and a quiz to check yourself. The first example shows it in action: “Je visite Paris.” — “I visit Paris.”

Present conjugation of visiter

Every form in the table below comes from VerbFlow’s verified conjugation tables for visiter. visiter is regular (regular in the present), so watch out for the forms that break the pattern — they are the ones learners need to memorise.

Present — visiter

Person Form
je visite
tu visites
il/elle visite
nous visitons
vous visitez
ils/elles visitent

The gerund of visiter is en visitant and the past participle is visité. The participle matters here because the present is often confused with the other past tenses — keep them apart.

How the present of visiter is formed

The present of visiter is formed from its stem with the present endings. The six forms are visite, visites, visite, visitons, visitez and visitent. Copy them from the table above exactly as written — do not guess a form from the infinitive.

A note on spelling: the forms in the table are the verified forms. If a form carries an accent, the accent is part of the spelling — for example visite — so always write it exactly as shown.

The present is the tense to learn first for visiter: every other tense in the full table is built from patterns you meet here, and the present is the form you will use most often in conversation.

When to use the present of visiter

Habits and routines

Use the present for something you do regularly. For example: “Je visite Paris.” — “I visit Paris.”

Facts and general truths

Use the present for facts that are true in general. For example: “Il visite le musée.” — “He visits the museum.”

Things happening now

Use the present for what is happening at this moment. For example: “Nous visitons mes amis.” — “We visit my friends.”

Near future plans

French often uses the present with a time word for a plan that is already fixed. For example: “Je visite la ville.” — “I visit the town.”

Present vs passé composé: visiter finished, visiter in progress

The present and the passé composé are the two tenses learners confuse most with visiter. The present is for habits, facts and things happening now; the passé composé is for recent past actions and life experience; this is the everyday spoken past tense, the passé composé. Compare the pairs below — the present form comes from this page, the passé composé form from the full conjugation table.

  • Present: “Je visite Paris.” — “I visit Paris.”

  • Passé composé: “J'ai visité Paris cette semaine.” — “I have visited Paris this week.”

  • Present: “Il visite le musée.” — “He visits the museum.”

  • Passé composé: “Il a visité le musée cette semaine.” — “He has visited the museum this week.”

  • Present: “Nous visitons mes amis.” — “We visit my friends.”

  • Passé composé: “Nous avons visité mes amis cette semaine.” — “We have visited my friends this week.”

Example sentences: visiter in the present

Six sentences using only the present of visiter, with English translations. Read them aloud — saying the forms is the fastest way to fix them in memory.

  • “Je visite Paris.” — “I visit Paris.”
  • “Tu visites le musée.” — “You visit the museum.”
  • “Il visite mes amis.” — “He visits my friends.”
  • “Nous visitons la ville.” — “We visit the town.”
  • “Vous visitez Paris.” — “You visit Paris.”
  • “Ils visitent le musée.” — “They visit the museum.”

Common mistakes in the present of visiter

1. Using the wrong person

✗ Wrong: “Je visitons Paris.”

✓ Right: “Je visite Paris.”

visitons is the nous form. With je the present form is visite.

2. Using the infinitive instead of a conjugated form

✗ Wrong: “Je visiter le musée.”

✓ Right: “Je visite le musée.”

The infinitive visiter never takes a subject. After je you need visite.

3. Using the passé composé for a habit

✗ Wrong: “Tous les jours, j'ai visité mes amis.”

✓ Right: “Tous les jours, je visite mes amis.”

A habit needs the present visite, not the passé composé.

4. Using the present where the imperfect belongs

✗ Wrong: “Avant, je visite la ville tous les jours.” (said of a repeated habit)

✓ Right: “Avant, je visitais la ville tous les jours.”

For something you did regularly in the past, use the imperfect visitais.

5. Mixing up tu and je

✗ Wrong: “Tu visite Paris.”

✓ Right: “Tu visites Paris.”

With tu the present form is visites, not visite. Copy the form for the right person from the table.

Quiz: test yourself on the present of visiter

Ten questions on visiter. Choose the right form, then check the answer key below.

  1. What is the je form of visiter in the Present indicative?

    • A) visitent
    • B) visite
    • C) visites
    • D) visitons

  2. What is the tu form of visiter in the Present indicative?

    • A) visite
    • B) visites
    • C) visitons
    • D) visitez

  3. What is the il/elle form of visiter in the Present indicative?

    • A) visitez
    • B) visitons
    • C) visitent
    • D) visite

  4. What is the nous form of visiter in the Present indicative?

    • A) visitons
    • B) visites
    • C) visitez
    • D) visitent

  5. What is the vous form of visiter in the Present indicative?

    • A) visitez
    • B) visitent
    • C) visitons
    • D) visites

  6. What is the ils/elles form of visiter in the Present indicative?

    • A) visite
    • B) visitent
    • C) visitez
    • D) visites

  7. What is the je form of visiter in the Present perfect?

    • A) avez visité
    • B) as visité
    • C) ai visité
    • D) ont visité

  8. What is the gerund of visiter?

    • A) visitant
    • B) buvant
    • C) dormant

  9. What is the past participle of visiter?

    • A) dormi
    • B) bu
    • C) visité

  10. What does visiter mean in English?

  • A) sleep
  • B) visit
  • C) drink
  • D) open

Answer key

  1. B) visite — The je form of visiter in the present indicative is visite.
  2. B) visites — The tu form of visiter in the present indicative is visites.
  3. D) visite — The il/elle form of visiter in the present indicative is visite.
  4. A) visitons — The nous form of visiter in the present indicative is visitons.
  5. A) visitez — The vous form of visiter in the present indicative is visitez.
  6. B) visitent — The ils/elles form of visiter in the present indicative is visitent.
  7. C) ai visité — The je form of visiter in the present perfect is ai visité.
  8. A) visitant — The gerund of visiter is en visitant; it is used after en for actions in progress.
  9. C) visité — The past participle of visiter is visité; perfect tenses use avoir + visité.
  10. B) visit — visiter means “visit” in English.

Frequently asked questions

When do I use the present of visiter?

Use it for habits, facts and things happening now. For visiter that covers talking about tourism, describing a weekend trip and showing friends around.

Is the present of visiter regular?

visiter is regular. In the present it is regular — copy the forms from the table on this page.

What is the past participle of visiter?

The past participle is visité. You need it for the passé composé, which uses avoir + visité.

How do I say “I visit” in the present?

Say “Je visite Paris.” — “I visit Paris.” The je form is visite.

Pronunciation

Pronunciation is not listed on this page: the verified tables do not include IPA for visiter, so no pronunciation is given rather than an invented one.

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