Key facts

Mériter

To deserve

B1Regular
Stem
mérit
Past participle
mérité

Examples

Je mérite un repos.

I deserve a rest.

Il ne mérite pas de pleurer.

He doesn't deserve to cry.

Nous méritions de gagner.

We deserved to win.

Nous avons mérité ce prix.

We deserved this award.

Présent

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

Group 1
Jemérite
Ideserve
Tumérites
Youdeserve
Ilmérite
Hedeserves
Nousméritons
Wedeserve
Vousméritez
Youdeserve
Ilsméritent
Theydeserve

Futur proche

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

Jevais mériter
Iam going to deserve
Tuvas mériter
Youare going to deserve
Ilva mériter
Heis going to deserve
Nousallons mériter
Weare going to deserve
Vousallez mériter
Youare going to deserve
Ilsvont mériter
Theyare going to deserve

Passé récent

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

Jeviens de mériter
Ihave just deserved
Tuviens de mériter
Youhave just deserved
Ilvient de mériter
Hehas just deserved
Nousvenons de mériter
Wehave just deserved
Vousvenez de mériter
Youhave just deserved
Ilsviennent de mériter
Theyhave just deserved

Passé composé

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

J'ai mérité
Ihave deserved
Tuas mérité
Youhave deserved
Ila mérité
Hehas deserved
Nousavons mérité
Wehave deserved
Vousavez mérité
Youhave deserved
Ilsont mérité
Theyhave deserved

Conditionnel présent

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

Jemériterais
Iwould deserve
Tumériterais
Youwould deserve
Ilmériterait
Hewould deserve
Nousmériterions
Wewould deserve
Vousmériteriez
Youwould deserve
Ilsmériteraient
Theywould deserve

Futur simple

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

Jemériterai
Iwill deserve
Tumériteras
Youwill deserve
Ilméritera
Hewill deserve
Nousmériterons
Wewill deserve
Vousmériterez
Youwill deserve
Ilsmériteront
Theywill deserve

Imparfait

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

Jeméritais
Iwas deserving
Tuméritais
Youwere deserving
Ilméritait
Hewas deserving
Nousméritions
Were deserving
Vousméritiez
Youwere deserving
Ilsméritaient
Theywere deserving

Impératif présent

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

(Tu)mérite
Youdeserve
(Nous)méritons
Wedeserve
(Vous)méritez
Youdeserve

Participe présent

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

méritant
deserving

Gérondif présent

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

en méritant
deserving

Similar conjugation models (Regular)

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Mériter | Verbs | Croissant Verbs