How to Conjugate "Essuyer" (to Wipe)

In French, the verb essuyer means "to wipe." Changing this into the past tense "wiped" or the future tense "will wipe" requires a verb conjugation. This lesson will show you how to transform essuyer into the simplest and most useful forms.

First, however, it should be noted that essuyer is very similar in spelling and sound to essayer, which means "to try." Watch out for these two so you don't confuse them.

Conjugating the French Verb Essuyer

The -yer ending tells us that essuyer is a stem-changing verb. In certain conjugations, the 'Y' changes to an 'I' before the infinitive ending is attached. While it doesn't change the pronunciation, it does affect the spelling, so it's important to pay attention to it.

To conjugate essuyer, begin with the verb stem of essuy-. We will then add a new ending according to the tense of the sentence as well as the subject pronoun. This means that "I wipe" is "j'essuie" and "we will wipe" is "nous essuierons."

Subject	Present	Future	Imperfect
j'	essuie	essuierai	essuyais
tu	essuies	essuieras	essuyais
il	essuie	essuiera	essuyait
nous	essuyons	essuierons	essuyions
vous	essuyez	essuierez	essuyiez
ils	essuient	essuieront	essuyaient

The Present Participle of Essuyer

When we add -ant to the verb stem of essuyer, the present participle essuyant is formed. This is a verb, of course, but is also useful as an adjective, gerund, or noun in some circumstances.

The Past Participle and Passé Composé

The past participle of essuyer is essuyé. It's used to form the passé composé for the past tense "tried." Before it's complete, you must also include the subject pronoun and the appropriate conjugation of the auxiliary verb avoir.

It all comes together quite easily. For instance, "I wiped" is "j'ai essuyé" while "we wiped" is "nous avons essuyé." Notice how ai and avons are conjugates of avoir and that the past participle doesn't change.

More Simple Essuyer Conjugations to Know

We're not quite done with essuyer, though the verb forms above should be a priority in your studies. There will also be times when you want to imply uncertainty or dependency to the verb's action. In these cases, you can use the subjunctive verb mood or the conditional form. 

When reading French, you may encounter any of the passé simple or the imperfect subjunctive forms of essuyer as well. 

Subject	Subjunctive	Conditional	Passé Simple	Imperfect Subjunctive
j'	essuie	essuierais	essuyai	essuyasse
tu	essuies	essuierais	essuyas	essuyasses
il	essuie	essuierait	essuya	essuyât
nous	essuyions	essuierions	essuyâmes	essuyassions
vous	essuyiez	essuieriez	essuyâtes	essuyassiez
ils	essuient	essuieraient	essuyèrent	essuyassent

The imperative verb form is used in assertive and short statements. When using it, keep it short and skip the subject pronoun: "tu essuie" becomes "essuie."

	Imperative
(tu)	essuie
(nous)	essuyons
(vous)	essuyez