Learn How to Conjugate "Produire" (to Produce)

The French verb produire looks similar to its English meaning of "to produce," so that makes it relatively easy to remember. However, if you're going to use it properly in a sentence, it's necessary to know its verb conjugations. These allow you to say things such as "produced" and "producing" and this lesson will help you learn those essential conjugates.

The Basic Conjugations of Produire

French verb conjugations are not the easiest part of learning the language because you have many words to memorize. Some verbs are more challenging than others and, unfortunately, produire is one of those.

Produire is an irregular verb and it does not follow a regular conjugation pattern. However, it is not alone because all French verbs ending in -uire are conjugated in the same way. To make each a little easier to learn, consider taking on a few at a time.

The irregularity of this verb means you will have to commit all of its conjugates to memory. Beginning with the indicative mood is the best approach. This includes the basic present, future, and imperfect past tenses that you will use most often in conversation.

Using the chart, match the subject pronoun with the appropriate tense for your subject. This will show you which ending is added to the verb stem (produi- ) to produce the conjugate. For example, je produis means "I am producing" while nous produisions means "we produced."

	Present	Future	Imperfect
je	produis	produirai	produisais
tu	produis	produiras	produisais
il	produit	produira	produisait
nous	produisons	produirons	produisions
vous	produisez	produirez	produisiez
ils	produisent	produiront	produisaient

The Present Participle of Produire

Acting as a verb, or a noun, adjective, or gerund in some circumstances, the present participle of produire adds -sant to the stem. This produces the word produisant.

Produire in the Compound Past Tense

Passé composé is the French compound past tense. This construction requires the past participle produit along with the present tense conjugate of avoir. When you put the two together, you get phrases such as j'ai produit (I produced) and nous avons produit (we produced).

More Simple Conjugations of Produire

There are a few more basic conjugations you may need. Among those are the subjunctive and the conditional. The former implies uncertainty while the latter is used in "if...then" situations.

Both the passé simple and the imperfect subjunctive are literary tenses and found most often in literature.

	Subjunctive	Conditional	Passé Simple	Imperfect Subjunctive
je	produise	produirais	produisis	produisisse
tu	produises	produirais	produisis	produisisses
il	produise	produirait	produisit	produisît
nous	produisions	produirions	produisîmes	produisissions
vous	produisiez	produiriez	produisîtes	produisissiez
ils	produisent	produiraient	produisirent	produisissent

You might also find the French imperative useful for produire. When you do use it, it's okay to skip the subject pronoun and simply say produis.​

	Imperative
(tu)	produis
(nous)	produisons
(vous)	produisez