Voir: Examples, Sentences and Quiz in French
Introduction
Voir means “to see”, and it is one of the most useful verbs in French — you will meet it in conversation, in books, in films and in every textbook. This page puts the verb to work: twelve example sentences across the tenses, a short dialogue you can act out, a tour of the verb in its most important tenses, the mistakes learners make most often, and a ten-question quiz with explained answers. Every form on this page comes from the verified conjugation tables for voir, so you can trust what you read here. Start with the examples, say them aloud, and then test yourself with the quiz at the end.
Example sentences
Twelve sentences with voir, in different tenses and with different subjects. Read the French first, guess the meaning, then check the English.
- “Je vois un film ce soir tous les jours.” — “I see a film this evening every day.”
- “Tu vois mes amis demain tous les jours.” — “You see my friends tomorrow every day.”
- “J'ai vu la mer de ma fenêtre cette semaine.” — “I have seen the sea from my window this week.”
- “Il voyait un film ce soir autrefois.” — “He used to see a film this evening in the past.”
- “Nous verrons mes amis demain demain.” — “We will see my friends tomorrow tomorrow.”
- “Tu as vu la mer de ma fenêtre cette semaine.” — “You have seen the sea from my window this week.”
- “Je verrais un film ce soir un jour.” — “I would see a film this evening one day.”
- “Il est important que il voie mes amis demain.” — “It is important that he see my friends tomorrow.”
- “Nous avions vu la mer de ma fenêtre avant la fête.” — “We had seen the sea from my window before the party.”
- “Il verra un film ce soir demain.” — “He will see a film this evening tomorrow.”
- “Ils voient mes amis demain tous les jours.” — “They see my friends tomorrow every day.”
- “Vois la mer de ma fenêtre !” — “See the sea from my window!”
A short dialogue
Marie and Pierre are talking about a film this evening. Read the dialogue aloud, one voice per person, and notice how voir changes with the tense and the subject. Every form of voir below is taken from the verified tables.
Marie : Tu fais quoi, ce soir ? Pierre : “Je vois un film ce soir tous les jours.” — “I see a film this evening every day.” Marie : Et demain ? Pierre : “Je verrai mes amis demain demain.” — “I will see my friends tomorrow tomorrow.” Marie : Tu as fait ça hier aussi ? Pierre : “J'ai vu la mer de ma fenêtre cette semaine.” — “I have seen the sea from my window this week.” Marie : Tu ferais ça un jour ? Pierre : “Je verrais un film ce soir un jour.” — “I would see a film this evening one day.”
Notice how the dialogue moves through time: the present for what is happening now, the future for tomorrow, the passé composé for yesterday, and the conditional for what someone would do one day. The verb stays the same — only the tense changes — and that is the whole point of learning a conjugation table: one verb, many moments.
Voir in different tenses
The same verb does different jobs in different tenses. Here are the six uses of voir that matter most, each with a sentence you can copy and adapt.
The present: habits and facts
In the present, voir describes habits, facts and what is happening now. The je form is vois: “Je vois un film ce soir tous les jours.” — “I see a film this evening every day.”
The imperfect: the past as it used to be
In the imperfect, voir describes the past as it used to be — background, habit, an action in progress. The il form is voyait: “Il voyait mes amis demain autrefois.” — “He used to see my friends tomorrow in the past.”
The passé composé: finished actions
In the passé composé, voir reports one finished action, built with avoir plus the participle vu. The je form is ai vu: “J'ai vu la mer de ma fenêtre cette semaine.” — “I have seen the sea from my window this week.”
The future: what will happen
In the future, voir talks about what will happen. The nous form is verrons: “Nous verrons un film ce soir demain.” — “We will see a film this evening tomorrow.”
The conditional: what would happen
In the conditional, voir talks about what would happen. The tu form is verrais: “Tu verrais mes amis demain un jour.” — “You would see my friends tomorrow one day.”
The subjunctive: wishes and doubts
In the subjunctive, voir appears after triggers such as il est important que. The form is voie, and the sentence keeps the same complement as the other tenses: “Il est important que je voie la mer de ma fenêtre.” — “It is important that I see the sea from my window.”
Common mistakes
Using the infinitive instead of a conjugated form
✗ Wrong: “Je voir un film ce soir.”
✓ Right: “Je vois un film ce soir.”
The infinitive voir never takes a subject. After je you need the conjugated form vois.
Using the wrong person’s form
✗ Wrong: “Tu vois un film ce soir.”
✓ Right: “Tu vois un film ce soir.”
vois is the je form. With tu you need vois. Check the subject before you choose the form.
Using the present for a finished past action
✗ Wrong: “Je vois un film ce soir hier.”
✓ Right: “Je ai vu un film ce soir hier.”
The time word hier points to the past, so a finished action needs the passé composé ai vu, not the present.
Using the indicative after a subjunctive trigger
✗ Wrong: “Il est important que tu vois mes amis demain.”
✓ Right: “Il est important que tu voies mes amis demain.”
After il est important que French needs the subjunctive: voies, not the indicative vois.
Forgetting the auxiliary in the passé composé
✗ Wrong: “Je vu un film ce soir.”
✓ Right: “Je ai vu un film ce soir.”
The passé composé of voir needs the auxiliary avoir plus the participle vu: the full je form is ai vu.
Quiz: test yourself
Ten questions on voir. Choose the right answer, then check the answer key below.
What is the je form of voir in the Present indicative?
- A) voit
- B) voyons
- C) voyez
- D) vois
What is the tu form of voir in the Present indicative?
- A) voit
- B) voyons
- C) voyez
- D) vois
What is the il/elle form of voir in the Present perfect (passé composé)?
- A) a vu
- B) ai vu
- C) as vu
- D) avons vu
What is the nous form of voir in the Imperfect?
- A) voyiez
- B) voyions
- C) voyais
- D) voyait
What is the tu form of voir in the Future?
- A) verrons
- B) verras
- C) verrai
- D) verra
What is the je form of voir in the Conditional?
- A) verrais
- B) verrait
- C) verrions
- D) verriez
What is the il/elle form of voir in the Present subjunctive?
- A) voyiez
- B) voie
- C) voies
- D) voyions
What is the je form of voir in the Pluperfect (plus-que-parfait)?
- A) aviez vu
- B) avais vu
- C) avait vu
- D) avions vu
What is the gerund of voir?
- A) en voyant
- B) en prenant
- C) en mettant
- D) en devant
What does voir mean in English?
- A) to see
- B) to take
- C) to put
- D) to must, to owe
Answer key
- D) vois — the je form of voir in the Present indicative is vois. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
- D) vois — the tu form of voir in the Present indicative is vois. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
- A) a vu — the il/elle form of voir in the Present perfect (passé composé) is a vu. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
- B) voyions — the nous form of voir in the Imperfect is voyions. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
- B) verras — the tu form of voir in the Future is verras. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
- A) verrais — the je form of voir in the Conditional is verrais. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
- B) voie — the il/elle form of voir in the Present subjunctive is voie. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
- B) avais vu — the je form of voir in the Pluperfect (plus-que-parfait) is avais vu. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
- A) en voyant — the gerund of voir is en voyant. The other options are the gerunds of neighbouring verbs.
- A) to see — voir means “to see” in English. The other options are the meanings of neighbouring verbs.
Frequently asked questions
What does voir mean in English?
voir means “to see”. It is a core everyday verb, so its present-tense forms are worth learning first.
Is voir regular or irregular?
voir is irregular in these tenses: present, passe-simple, present-subjunctive, imperative-affirmative, imperative-negative. The gerund is voyant and the past participle is vu.
How do I practise voir every day?
Say one sentence with voir in the present, one in the passé composé and one in the future every day, using the examples on this page as models — for example, “Je vois un film ce soir tous les jours.”, “J'ai vu un film ce soir cette semaine.” and “Je verrai un film ce soir demain.”. Then take the quiz again and check your answers against the key.
Pronunciation
Pronunciation is not listed on this page: the verified tables do not include IPA for voir, so no pronunciation is given rather than an invented one.
Related pages
- Full conjugation of voir — every tense of voir in one place.
- Voir in the passé composé tense — the full table and usage rules for one tense.
- Voir examples and quiz — more example sentences and practice questions for this verb.
- Prendre conjugation — another everyday French verb.
- Mettre conjugation — another everyday French verb.
- Devoir conjugation — another everyday French verb.
- French irregular verbs — every common irregular French verb, grouped by pattern.
- 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 Quiz — practise voir with the interactive tool.
- Conjugation Practice — practise voir with the interactive tool.
- Verb Translator — practise voir with the interactive tool.