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.

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 enthousiasm.e
   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 veni.r
   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 obligé 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 ___ed

   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

   rien à voir - nothing to do (with)

More expressions with voir


Conjugations

Present tense

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

All tenses


Most common French verbs