How to Conjugate the French Verb 'Rater' ('to Miss, Fail')

Rater, pronounced "rah tay," is a French verb that's conjugated like all French regular -er verbs. It means literally "to miss, fail, go wrong, make a mess of," as in:

• Ça ne rate jamais. > It never fails.
• Anne a raté son train. > Anne missed her train.
• Robert a raté son pizza. > Robert made a mess of his pizza.

Expressions and Usage

• La bombe a raté sa cible. > The bomb missed its target.  
• rate le bac > fail the high school diploma
• rater le bus, le coche > to miss the bus, coach / miss the window of opportunity
• rater la correspondance > miss the connection
• Tue viens de la rater. > You just missed her.
• Occasion à ne pas rater > an opportunity not to be missed
• (familiar) Je t'avais dit qu'elle serait en retard, et ça n'a pas raté ! > I told you she'd be late, and sure enough she was !
• Tais-toi. Tu vas tout faire rater ! > Be quiet or you'll ruin everything !
• Le coup a raté.  > The gun failed to go off. 
• (Familiar) J'ai raté mon coup. > I made a mess of it.
• C'est une émission à ne pas rater. > This programme is a must.
• Il rate toujours les mayonnaises. > His mayonnaise always goes wrong.
• Rater sa vie > to make a mess of one's life
• (pronominal reflexive) Il s'est coupé les cheveux lui-même, et il s'est complètement raté !  > He cut his hair himself and made a complete mess of it !
• Elle est tombée de vélo, elle ne s'est pas ratée ! > She fell off her bike, but she didn't hurt herself.

'Rater' Is a Regular French '-er' Verb

The majority of French verbs are regular -er verbs, as rater is. (There are five main kinds of verbs in French: regular -er, -ir, -re verbs; stem-changing verbs; and irregular verbs.)

To conjugate a regular French -er verb, remove the -er ending from the infinitive to reveal the verb's stem. Then add the regular -er endings to the stem. Note that all regular -er verbs share conjugation patterns in all tenses and moods.

Below are all the simple conjugations of the verb rater. The compound conjugations, which include a conjugated form of the auxiliary verb avoir and the past participle raté, are not included.

You can apply the same endings in the table to any of the regular French -er verbs listed below.

SOME COMMON FRENCH REGULAR '-ER' VERBS

French regular -er verbs, by far the largest group of French verbs, share a conjugation pattern. Here are just a few of the most common regular -er verbs:

• aimer > to like, to love
• arriver > to arrive, to happen
• chanter > to sing
• chercher > to look for
• commencer* > to begin
• danse > to dance
• demander > to ask for
• dépenser > to spend (money)
• détester > to hate
• donner > to give
• écouter > to listen to
• étudier** > to study
• fermer > to close
• goûte > to taste
• jouer > to play
• laver > to wash
• manger* > to eat
• nager* > to swim
• parler > to talk, to speak
• passe > to pass, spend (time)
• penser > to think
• porter > to wear, to carry
• regarder > to watch, to look at
• rêver > to dream
• sembler > to seem
• skier** > to ski
• travailler > to work
• trouve > to find
• visiter > to visit (a place)
• voler > to fly, to steal

*All regular -er verbs are conjugated according to the regular -er verb conjugation pattern, except for one small irregularity in verbs that end in -ger and -cer, known as spelling-change verbs.

**Though conjugated just like regular -er verbs, watch out for verbs that end in -ier.

Simple Conjugations of the Regular French '-er' Verb 'Rater'

	Present	Future	Imperfect	Imperative
je	rate	raterai	ratais
tu	rates	rateras	ratais	rate
il	rate	ratera	ratait
nous	ratons	raterons	rations	ratons
vous	ratez	raterez	ratiez	ratez
ils	ratent	rateront	rataient
	Subjunctive	Conditional	Passé simple	Imperfect subjunctive
je	rate	raterais	ratai	ratasse
tu	rates	raterais	ratas	ratasses
il	rate	raterait	rata	ratât
nous	rations	raterions	ratâmes	ratassions
vous	ratiez	rateriez	ratâtes	ratassiez
ils	ratent	rateraient	ratèrent	ratassent

Present participle: ratant