Conjugation of French Verb Entrer (to Enter)

The French verb entrer means "to enter" and it's a very useful word to know. As you use French in more conversations or travel to French-speaking regions, you'll find forms of entrer everywhere.

Just like with all verbs, when we want to say "entered" or "entering," the verb needs to be conjugated. A short lesson will demonstrate how to do that.

Conjugating the French Verb Entrer

Entrer is not only a very common verb, it also follows a very common verb conjugation pattern. This is a regular -ER verb and it shares the same infinitive endings with similar verbs like enseigner (to teach), exister (to exist), and many others.

As with all French verb conjugations, begin by identifying the verb stem: entr-. We can then add a new ending to match the present, future, or imperfect past tense with the appropriate subject pronoun. For instance, "I enter" is "j'entre" and "we will enter" is "nous entrerons."

The easiest way to memorize all these verb forms is to practice them in context. Luckily, there are plenty of opportunities in everyday life to utilize entrer.

Subject	Present	Future	Imperfect
j'	entre	entrerai	entrais
tu	entres	entreras	entrais
il	entre	entrera	entrait
nous	entrons	entrerons	entrions
vous	entrez	entrerez	entriez
ils	entrent	entreront	entraient

The Present Participle of Entrer

The present participle of entrer is entrant. Not only is it a verb, you can also use it as an adjective, gerund, or noun in some circumstances.

The Past Participle and Passé Composé

To express the past tense "entered," you can use either the imperfect forms or the passé composé. Forming the latter is quite simple and you might find it the easier option of the two.

To construct it, begin by conjugating the auxiliary verb être according to the sentence's subject pronoun. Then, add the past participle entré. As an example, "I entered" becomes "je suis entré" and "we entered" is "nous sommes entré."

More Simple Entrer Conjugations

Should you find that the action of entering is subjective or uncertain, use the subjunctive verb mood. Similarly, the conditional verb mood implies that "entering" will only occur if something else happens.

The possibility of needing the passé simple or the imperfect subjunctive is low. That's because these are primarily reserved for writing. Yet, knowing them will help your reading comprehension.

Subject	Subjunctive	Conditional	Passé Simple	Imperfect Subjunctive
j'	entre	entrerais	entrai	entrasse
tu	entres	entrerais	entras	entrasses
il	entre	entrerait	entra	entrât
nous	entrions	entrerions	entrâmes	entrassions
vous	entriez	entreriez	entrâtes	entrassiez
ils	entrent	entreraient	entrèrent	entrassent

Forming short, direct commands or requests is very easy with the imperative verb form. When using this, the subject pronoun is not required, so "tu entre" can be "entre."

	Imperative
(tu)	entre
(nous)	entrons
(vous)	entrez