How to Conjugate "Élire" (to Elect"

In French, the verb élire means "to elect." Whenever you want to use it in the past tense "elected" or the future tense "will elect," you will need to conjugate the verb. French students know that this can be a challenge and élire is one of those tricky irregular verbs.

Conjugating the French Verb Élire

French verb conjugations are more complex than they are in English. That's because the verb endings change not only with the tense of the sentence but also with the subject pronoun.

Élire is an irregular verb and it's similar to other words like lire (to read), réélire (to re-elect), and relire (to re-read, replay). While this is not the most common conjugation pattern, these few words do make learning the entire group a little easier.

To conjugate élire, pair the subject pronoun with the tense. For instance, "I elect" is "j'élis" while "we will elect" is "nous élirons." Practice each of these in context to learn how to use them in your French conversations.

Subject	Present	Future	Imperfect
j'	élis	élirai	élisais
tu	élis	éliras	élisais
il	élit	élira	élisait
nous	élisons	élirons	élisions
vous	élisez	élirez	élisiez
ils	élisent	éliront	élisaient

The Present Participle of Élire

The present participle is another verb form that you should know. To form it, add -ant to the verb stem to produce élisant. Beyond using it as a verb, you will also find it helpful as an adjective, gerund, or noun in some circumstances.

The Past Participle and Passé Composé

For the past tense of élire, you can choose either the imperfect or the passé composé. To construct the latter, begin with the subject pronoun and conjugate the auxiliary verb avoir to match it. Then, attach the past participle élu.

The passé composé comes together quickly: "I have elected" is "j'ai élu" and "we elected" is "nous avons élu."

More Simple Élire Conjugations

Among other simple conjugations of élire that French students should know are the following. You may not use them often, but they can be quite handy to know.

In rare instances, and primarily when reading or writing, you may see the passé simple or the imperfect subjunctive. More frequently, the subjunctive and conditional verb moods are used. Each implies no guarantee to the verb's action in some form or fashion.

Subject	Subjunctive	Conditional	Passé Simple	Imperfect Subjunctive
j'	élise	élirais	élus	élusse
tu	élises	élirais	élus	élusses
il	élise	élirait	élut	élût
nous	élisions	élirions	élûmes	élussions
vous	élisiez	éliriez	élûtes	élussiez
ils	élisent	éliraient	élurent	élussent

To use élire in exclamations, demands, and short requests, use the imperative form. When doing so, skip the subject pronoun and use "élis" rather than "tu élis."

	Imperative
(tu)	élis
(nous)	élisons
(vous)	élisez