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Conjugation
Objective: Conjugate pouvoir across all six subject pronouns and use it to express ability, permission, and polite requests.
| Pronoun | Form | Pronunciation | English |
|---|---|---|---|
| je | peux | puh | I can |
| tu | peux | puh | you can (informal) |
| il / elle / on | peut | puh | he, she, one can |
| nous | pouvons | poo-von | we can |
| vous | pouvez | poo-vay | you can (formal or plural) |
| ils / elles | peuvent | puhv | they can |
The first-person singular form is peux, not peut, since peut belongs only to the third-person singular il and elle.
The first-person plural uses the infinitive stem pouv-, not peuv-, so the correct form is pouvons.
Peux is the first-person singular form. The infinitive venir follows directly without any preposition.
Peux is the second-person singular form. The pronoun me elides to m' before the vowel-initial verb aider.
Peut is the third-person singular form. The infinitive parler follows the conjugated verb.
Pouvons uses the infinitive stem. The time expression maintenant follows the infinitive.
Pouvez is the second-person plural or formal form. The verb expresses permission in a direct instruction.
5 exercises · about 8 minutes
Pouvoir links directly to an infinitive without any preposition, so à and de never appear between the two verbs.
The pronoun me elides to m' before any verb starting with a vowel, following the same rule as le and la.
Peuvent returns to the singular stem. The infinitive attendre follows the conjugated verb.
The formal inverted form puis-je replaces the expected peux-je, and it is the only French inversion that changes the verb's stem.
The pronoun on takes the third-person singular form peut and expresses a shared suggestion.