The French verb payer means "to pay". 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 payer is je paie, tu paies, il/elle paie, nous payons, vous payez, ils/elles paient. 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.
| je | paie (irregular) | |
|---|---|---|
| tu | paies (irregular) | |
| il/ | paie (irregular) | |
| nous | payons | |
| vous | payez | |
| ils/ | paient (irregular) |
| j' | ai payé |
|---|---|
| tu | as payé |
| il/ | a payé |
| nous | avons payé |
| vous | avez payé |
| ils/ | ont payé |
| je | payais |
|---|---|
| tu | payais |
| il/ | payait |
| nous | payions |
| vous | payiez |
| ils/ | payaient |
| je | paierai (irregular) |
|---|---|
| tu | paieras (irregular) |
| il/ | paiera (irregular) |
| nous | paierons (irregular) |
| vous | paierez (irregular) |
| ils/ | paieront (irregular) |
| je | paierais (irregular) |
|---|---|
| tu | paierais (irregular) |
| il/ | paierait (irregular) |
| nous | paierions (irregular) |
| vous | paieriez (irregular) |
| ils/ | paieraient (irregular) |
| que je | paie (irregular) |
|---|---|
| que tu | paies (irregular) |
| qu'il/ | paie (irregular) |
| que nous | payions |
| que vous | payiez |
| qu'ils/ | paient (irregular) |
| tu | paie (irregular) |
|---|---|
| nous | payons |
| vous | payez |
Payer is regular. The spelling changes from y to i in several forms, including paie, paierai, and paierais, while nous payons keeps 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, payer is regular. Its forms follow the regular -er model, with a spelling change from y to i in several forms.
The forms are paie, paies, paie, payons, payez, and paient. The nous and vous forms keep y.
The present participle is payant and the past participle is payé. The auxiliary is avoir.