Conjugating the Regular French Verb 'Aimer' ('to Like, Love')

The French verb 'aimer' follows a pattern, like other regular '-er' verbs

Aimer - French Verb Conjugations
 ThoughtCo

Aimer is one of the most common French verbs. It is a regular -er verb, thus its conjugations follow a set pattern, without any exceptions. Out of all French verbs, the regular -er verbs are by far the largest group—larger than the regular -ir and -re groups, the stem-changing verbs, and the irregular verbs.

In this article, you can find the conjugations of aimer in the present, compound past, imperfect, simple future, near future indicative, the conditional, the present subjunctive, as well as the imperative and the gerund

Using Aimer

Aimer is mostly known as the word of love. However, besides saying that you love something or someone, aimer can also be used to express that we like or are fond of something or someone. In the conditional, aimer is a polite way to make a request or state a desire. And when in the pronominal form, s'aimer can be reflexive or reciprocal as in "to like oneself" or "to be in love."

  • J'aime Paris. I like/love Paris
  • Je t'aime, papa. I love you, dad.
  • Pierre aime Marie. Pierre loves Marie/Pierre is in love with Marie.
  • Louise est mon amie. Je l'aime beaucoup. Louise is my friend. I like her a lot.
  • J'aimerais partir à midi. > I would like to leave at noon.

There are also many idiomatic expressions with aimer, such as aimer à la folie (to be madly in love) or aimer autant (to be just as happy with/that)

Present Indicative

J' aime J'aime me balader au bord de la Seine. I like going for walks along the Seine.
Tu aimes Tu vraiment aimes Joelle? Do you really love Joelle?
Il/Elle/On aime Elle aime l'oignon soup. She loves onion soup
Nous aimons Nous aimons aller en ville. We like going to the city.
Vous aimez Est-ce que vous aimez aller danser? Do you like to go dancing?
Ils/Elles aiment Elles aiment voyager. They like to travel.

Compound Past Indicative

The passé composé is a past tense that can be translated as the simple past or the present perfect. For the verb aimer, it is formed with the auxiliary verb avoir and the past participle aimé​.

J' ai aimé J'ai bien aimé ce livre. I quite liked this book.
Tu as aimé Je sais que tu l'as beaucoup aimé. I know you liked her a lot.
Il/Elle/On a aimé Il y a trois ans, il a aimé cette petite voiture. Plus maintenant. Three years ago, he liked this little car. Not anymore.
Nous avons aimé Nous avons aimé ton charactère vraiment beacoup. We really liked your character.
Vous avez aimé Vous avez aimé les peintures de Matisse. You liked Matisse's paintings.
Ils/Elles ont aimé Elles ont aimé chanter Edith Piaf, mais ça il y a des années.

They liked singing the songs of Edith Piaf, but that was years ago.

Imperfect Indicative

The imperfect tense is another form of the past tense, but it is used to talk about ongoing or repeated actions in the past. It can be translated to English as "was loving" or "used to love," although it can sometimes also be translated as the simple "loved" or "liked," depending on the context.

J' aimais Je aimais beaucoup passer du temps avec mamie. I used to love spending time with grandma.
Tu aimais Tu aimais bien nos promenades quand tu étais petit. You used to like our walks when you were little.
Il/Elle/On aimait Elle aimait ses fleurs jusqu'au bout. She used to absolutely love her flowers.
Nous aimions Quand on était enfants, nous aimions passer nos soirées à jouer aux cartes. When we were kids, we used to like spending our evenings playing cards.
Vous aimiez Vous aimiez manger des champignons. You used to like eating mushrooms.
Ils/Elles aimaient Ils aimaient faire de la cuisine ensemble.

They used to like cooking together.

Simple Future Indicative

To talk about the future in English, in most cases we simply add the modal verb "will." In French, however, the future tense is formed by adding different endings to the infinitive.  

J' aimerai J'aimerai écrire mon nouveau livre. I will enjoy writing my new book.
Tu aimeras Vas voir le nouveau film de Tarantino.Tu aimeras ça. Go see the new Tarantino movie. You'll like it.
Il/Elle/On aimera Il aimera te voir. He will be glad to see you.
Nous aimerons Nous aimerons passer par là. We will want to go by there.
Vous aimerez Vous aimerez le nouvel album de Jay-Z. You will like Jay-Z's new album.
Ils/Elles aimeront Quand elles arrivent pour les vacances, elles aimeront visiter le Grand Canyon.

When they come here on vacation, they will want to see the Grand Canyon.

Near Future Indicative

Another form of the future tense is the near future, which is the equivalent to the English "going to + verb." In French, the near future is formed with the present tense conjugation of the verb aller (to go) + the infinitive (aimer).

Je vais aimer Je vais aimer les cours de peinture. I am going to like painting classes.
Tu vas aimer Tu vas aimer être maman. You are going to love being a mom.
Il/Elle/On va aimer Elle va aimer son nouvel appartement. She is going to like her new apartment.
Nous allons aimer Nous allons aimer vous avoir ici. We are going to love having you here.
Vous allez aimer Vous allez aimer la vue de la montagne. You are going to like the view from the mountain.
Ils/Elles vont aimer Elles vont aimer son nouveau copain. They are going to like her new boyfriend.

Conditional

The conditional mood in French is equivalent to the English "would + verb." Notice that the endings it adds to the infinitive are very similar to those in the future tense.

J' aimerais J'aimerais bien le voir gagner. I would like to see him win.
Tu aimerais Tu aimerais commencer une affaire. You would like to start a business.
Il/Elle/On aimerait Elle aimerait t'inviter boire un verre. She would like to invite you for a drink.
Nous aimerions Nous aimerions d'avoir plus de temps. We would like to have more time.
Vous aimeriez Vous aimeriez vous marier dans un château? You would like to get married in a castle?
Ils/Elles aimeraient Elles aimeraient aller voir leurs parents. They would like to go see their parents.

Present Subjunctive

The subjunctive mood conjugation of aimer, which comes in after the expression que + person, looks very much like the present indicative.

Que j' aime Il ne sait pas que je l'aime encore. He doesn't know I still love him.
Que tu aimes Je voudrais, que tu aimes ma nouvelle copine. I wish you liked my new girlfriend.
Qu'i/elle/on aime Jean ést heureux, que Paul l'aime. Jean is happy that Paul loves him.
Que nous aimions Elle espère que nous aimions sa tarte aux pommes. She hoped we like her apple pies.
Que vous aimiez Maman a peur que vous ne vous aimiez plus. Mom is worried that you don't love each other anymore.
Qu'ils/elles aiment Nous doutont qu'ils s'aiment. We doubt they like each other.

Imperative


The imperative mood is used to give commands, both positive and negative. They have the same verb form, but the negative commands include ne...pas around the verb.

Positive Commands

Tu aime! Aime tes parents! Love your parents!
Nous aimons! Aimons-nous plus! Let's love each other more!
Vous aimez! Aimez votre pays! Love your country!

Negative Commands

Tu n'aime pas! Ne l'aime pas! Don't love her!
Nous n'aimons pas! Ne l'aimons plus! Let's not like him anymore!
Vous n'aimez pas! Ne vous aimez pas! Stop liking each other!

Present Participle/Gerund

One of the uses of the present participle is to form the gerund (usually preceded by the preposition en). The gerund can be used to talk about simultaneous actions.

Present Participle/Gerund of Aimer: aimant

Martin, aimant le gratin, en reprit trois fois. -> Loving the gratin, Martin had three servings.

Format
mla apa chicago
Your Citation
Lawless, Laura K. "Conjugating the Regular French Verb 'Aimer' ('to Like, Love')." ThoughtCo, Feb. 8, 2021, thoughtco.com/aimer-to-like-love-1369788. Lawless, Laura K. (2021, February 8). Conjugating the Regular French Verb 'Aimer' ('to Like, Love'). Retrieved from https://www.thoughtco.com/aimer-to-like-love-1369788 Lawless, Laura K. "Conjugating the Regular French Verb 'Aimer' ('to Like, Love')." ThoughtCo. https://www.thoughtco.com/aimer-to-like-love-1369788 (accessed March 29, 2024).