All about Voir

Voir is one of the most common French verbs. It is irregular in conjugation, means "to see" in most senses of the word, and is found in a number of idiomatic expressions.


Using voir

Voir means "to see"

Je vois Lise le samedi
I see Lise on Saturdays

Je vois deux chiens
I see two dogs

As-tu vu ce film ?
Have you seen this movie?

Voir can mean "to see" figuratively, in the sense of "to witness" or "to experience":

Je n'ai jamais vu un tel enthousiasme
I've never seen such enthusiasm

Il a vu la mort de tous ses amis
He has seen (lived through) the deaths of all of his friends

Voir is also commonly used to mean "to see" in the sense of "to understand"

Ah, je vois !
Oh, I see! (I get it, I understand)

Je ne vois pas la différence
I don't see (understand) the difference

Je ne vois pas comment vous avez décidé
I don't see (understand) how you decided

Voir with verbs

Voir can be followed by an infinitive to mean "to see" literally or figuratively:

As-tu vu sauter la petite fille ?
Did you see the little girl jump?

J'ai vu grandir ses enfants
I saw (witnessed) his children growing up

Aller voir means "to go (and) see":

Tu devrais aller voir un film
You should go see a movie

Va voir si elle est prête
Go and see if she's ready

Faire voir means "to show":

Fais-moi voir tes devoirs
Let me see / Show me your homework

Fais voir !
Let me see! Show me!

Voir venir (informal, figurative) means "to see something/someone coming":

Je te vois venir
I see where you're going (with this), what you're leading up to

Mais c'est trop cher ! On t'a vu venir !
But that's too expensive! They saw you coming!

Se voir

Se voir can be a pronominal or passive voice construction.

1. Pronominal

Reflexive - to see oneself

Te vois-tu dans la glace ?
Do you see yourself in the mirror?

Je me vois habiter en Suisse
I see (can imagine) myself living in Switzerland

(figurative) - to find oneself, be in the position of

Je me vois obliger de partir
I find myself obliged to leave

Il s'est vu contraint d'en parler
He found himself forced to talk about it

Reciprocal - to see each other

Nous nous voyons tous les jours
We see each other every day

Quand se sont-ils vus ?
When did they see each other?

2. Passive

a) to happen; to show, be visible

Ça se voit
That happens

Ça ne se voit pas tous les jours
You don't see that / That doesn't happen every day

Le trou ne se voit pas
You can't see the hole / The hole isn't visible

b) se voir plus infinitive - to be + past participle

Il s'est vu dire de se taire
He was told to be quiet

Je me suis vu interdire de répondre
I was forbidden to respond

Expressions with voir

avoir quelque chose à voir avec/dans - to have something to do with

ne pas avoir grand-chose à voir avec/dans - to not have much to do with

ne rien avoir à voir avec/dans - to have nothing to do with
Cela n'a rien à voir avec... - That has nothing to do with...

Je voudrais t'y voir ! - I'd like to see you try! I'd like to see how you would handle it!

On verra - We'll see

More expressions with voir

Conjugations

Present tense

je vois
tu vois
il voit
nous voyons
vous voyez
ils voient

All tenses