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Conjugation of the French verb lire

A list of the common conjugations for the French verb lire, along with their English translations.

lire is an irregular verb

Verb phrases

Infinitive		Scored
lire	to read

Present		Scored
je lis	I read
tu lis	you read
il lit	he reads
elle lit	she reads
nous lisons	we read
vous lisez	you read
ils lisent	they read
elles lisent	they read

Imperfect		Scored
je lisais	I was reading
tu lisais	you were reading
il lisait	he was reading
elle lisait	she was reading
nous lisions	we were reading
vous lisiez	you were reading
ils lisaient	they were reading
elles lisaient	they were reading

Past Historic / Passé Simple This is a literary tense, i.e. a tense used in writing, in everyday speech the Passé Composé is used to refer to past actions.		Scored
je lus	I read
tu lus	you read
il lut	he read
elle lut	she read
nous lûmes	we read
vous lûtes	you read
ils lurent	they read
elles lurent	they read

Passé Composé		Scored
j'ai lu	I have read
tu as lu	you have read
il a lu	he has read
elle a lu	she has read
nous avons lu	we have read
vous avez lu	you have read
ils ont lu	they have read
elles ont lu	they have read

Pluperfect / Plus-que-parfait		Scored
j'avais lu	I had read
tu avais lu	you had read
il avait lu	he had read
elle avait lu	she had read
nous avions lu	we had read
vous aviez lu	you had read
ils avaient lu	they had read
elles avaient lu	they had read

Future		Scored
je lirai	I will read
tu liras	you will read
il lira	he will read
elle lira	she will read
nous lirons	we will read
vous lirez	you will read
ils liront	they will read
elles liront	they will read

Future Perfect / Futur antérieur The French Future Perfect or Futur antérieur is made with the future tense of avoir or être and the past participle of the verb. The past participle agrees with the subject for verbs that take être, or with the direct object for verbs that take avoir.		Scored
j'aurai lu	I will have read
tu auras lu	you will have read
il aura lu	he will have read
elle aura lu	she will have read
nous aurons lu	we will have read
vous aurez lu	you will have read
ils auront lu	they will have read
elles auront lu	they will have read

Conditional		Scored
je lirais	I would read
tu lirais	you would read
il lirait	he would read
elle lirait	she would read
nous lirions	we would read
vous liriez	you would read
ils liraient	they would read
elles liraient	they would read

Conditional Perfect / Conditionnel passé The French Conditional Perfect (the past conditional) or Conditionnel passé is made with the conditional tense of avoir or être and the past participle of the verb. The past participle agrees with the subject for verbs that take être, or with the direct object for verbs that take avoir.		Scored
j'aurais lu	I would have read
tu aurais lu	you would have read
il aurait lu	he would have read
elle aurait lu	she would have read
nous aurions lu	we would have read
vous auriez lu	you would have read
ils auraient lu	they would have read
elles auraient lu	they would have read

Present Subjunctive		Scored
(... que) je lise	(... that) I read
(... que) tu lises	(... that) you read
(... que) il lise	(... that) he reads
(... que) elle lise	(... that) she reads
(... que) nous lisions	(... that) we read
(... que) vous lisiez	(... that) you read
(... que) ils lisent	(... that) they read
(... que) elles lisent	(... that) they read

Imperfect Subjunctive		Scored
(... que) je lusse	(... that) I was reading
(... que) tu lusses	(... that) you were reading
(... que) il lût	(... that) he was reading
(... que) elle lût	(... that) she was reading
(... que) nous lussions	(... that) we were reading
(... que) vous lussiez	(... that) you were reading
(... que) ils lussent	(... that) they were reading
(... que) elles lussent	(... that) they were reading

Imperative		Scored
lis	Read
lisons	Let's read
lisez	Read

Present Participle		Scored
lisant	reading

Past Participle		Scored
lu	read

Regular conjugation

Irregular conjugation

Spelling change

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