The French verb essayer means "to try". Below are its 7 tenses as tables, with the irregular forms marked, 4 example sentences and answers to 3 common questions. Press play next to a present tense form or an example to hear it.
The present tense of essayer is j'essaie, tu essaies, il/elle essaie, nous essayons, vous essayez, ils/elles essaient. It counts as a regular -er verb, though 21 of its forms differ from the model pattern and are marked in the tables. The tables below cover 7 tenses, from the present to the imperative. Its compound tenses are formed with avoir.
Forms in orange break the regular -er pattern.
| j' | essaie (irregular) | |
|---|---|---|
| tu | essaies (irregular) | |
| il/ | essaie (irregular) | |
| nous | essayons | |
| vous | essayez | |
| ils/ | essaient (irregular) |
| j' | ai essayé |
|---|---|
| tu | as essayé |
| il/ | a essayé |
| nous | avons essayé |
| vous | avez essayé |
| ils/ | ont essayé |
| j' | essayais |
|---|---|
| tu | essayais |
| il/ | essayait |
| nous | essayions |
| vous | essayiez |
| ils/ | essayaient |
| j' | essaierai (irregular) |
|---|---|
| tu | essaieras (irregular) |
| il/ | essaiera (irregular) |
| nous | essaierons (irregular) |
| vous | essaierez (irregular) |
| ils/ | essaieront (irregular) |
| j' | essaierais (irregular) |
|---|---|
| tu | essaierais (irregular) |
| il/ | essaierait (irregular) |
| nous | essaierions (irregular) |
| vous | essaieriez (irregular) |
| ils/ | essaieraient (irregular) |
| que j' | essaie (irregular) |
|---|---|
| que tu | essaies (irregular) |
| qu'il/ | essaie (irregular) |
| que nous | essayions |
| que vous | essayiez |
| qu'ils/ | essaient (irregular) |
| tu | essaie (irregular) |
|---|---|
| nous | essayons |
| vous | essayez |
Essayer is regular. Its spelling changes from y to i in forms such as essaie and essaierai, while essayons and essayez keep y.
Lingo7 is an app for reading books in French with a translation under every sentence and audio, so the forms in these tables come back in context.
Yes, essayer is regular. It follows the regular -er model.
The forms are essaie, essaies, essaie, essayons, essayez, essaient. The spelling keeps y in essayons and essayez.
The present participle is essayant, the past participle is essayé, and the auxiliary is avoir. The compound past uses ai essayé, as in the first person singular.