Key facts

Emprunter

To borrow

B2Regular
Stem
emprunt
Past participle
emprunté

Examples

J'emprunte un livre.

I borrow a book.

Il n'emprunte pas sa route.

He doesn't take his route.

Nous empruntions à Lucie.

We were borrowing from Lucie.

Nous avons emprunté 10€.

We borrowed 10€.

Présent

Indicative present — everyday actions, ongoing situations, and habits; the tense you rely on most in conversation.

Group 1
J'emprunte
Iborrow
Tuempruntes
Youborrow
Ilemprunte
Heborrows
Nousempruntons
Weborrow
Vousempruntez
Youborrow
Ilsempruntent
Theyborrow

Futur proche

Near future with aller + infinitive — what you are about to do, very soon after the moment of speaking.

Jevais emprunter
Iam going to borrow
Tuvas emprunter
Youare going to borrow
Ilva emprunter
Heis going to borrow
Nousallons emprunter
Weare going to borrow
Vousallez emprunter
Youare going to borrow
Ilsvont emprunter
Theyare going to borrow

Passé récent

Recent past with venir de + infinitive — something that has just finished, still fresh in the speaker’s mind.

Jeviens d'emprunter
Ihave just borrowed
Tuviens d'emprunter
Youhave just borrowed
Ilvient d'emprunter
Hehas just borrowed
Nousvenons d'emprunter
Wehave just borrowed
Vousvenez d'emprunter
Youhave just borrowed
Ilsviennent d'emprunter
Theyhave just borrowed

Passé composé

Compound past with être or avoir + past participle — completed, one-off events and the backbone of spoken storytelling.

J'ai emprunté
Ihave borrowed
Tuas emprunté
Youhave borrowed
Ila emprunté
Hehas borrowed
Nousavons emprunté
Wehave borrowed
Vousavez emprunté
Youhave borrowed
Ilsont emprunté
Theyhave borrowed

Conditionnel présent

Conditional mood — polite requests, imagined outcomes, and what would happen under certain conditions.

J'emprunterais
Iwould borrow
Tuemprunterais
Youwould borrow
Ilemprunterait
Hewould borrow
Nousemprunterions
Wewould borrow
Vousemprunteriez
Youwould borrow
Ilsemprunteraient
Theywould borrow

Futur simple

Simple future — often more formal or literary than the near future; states intentions farther ahead in time.

J'emprunterai
Iwill borrow
Tuemprunteras
Youwill borrow
Ilempruntera
Hewill borrow
Nousemprunterons
Wewill borrow
Vousemprunterez
Youwill borrow
Ilsemprunteront
Theywill borrow

Imparfait

Imperfect — repeated habits in the past, background description, and actions still in progress when something else occurred.

J'empruntais
Iwas borrowing
Tuempruntais
Youwere borrowing
Ilempruntait
Hewas borrowing
Nousempruntions
Were borrowing
Vousempruntiez
Youwere borrowing
Ilsempruntaient
Theywere borrowing

Impératif présent

Present imperative — direct commands and friendly requests; only tu, nous, and vous person forms exist.

(Tu)emprunte
Youborrow
(Nous)empruntons
Weborrow
(Vous)empruntez
Youborrow

Participe présent

Present participle — the -ant form in subordinate clauses, compound tenses, and many fixed expressions.

empruntant
borrowing

Gérondif présent

Gerund with en + present participle — simultaneous action, manner, or cause while something else is going on.

en empruntant
borrowing

Similar conjugation models (Regular)

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