How to Conjugate "Éviter" (to Avoid)

In French, éviter is the verb that means "to avoid." When you want to say "avoided," "avoiding," or "will avoid," the verb needs to be conjugated. This can be a challenge with some words, but éviter is a little easier because it follows a standard pattern.

Conjugating the French Verb Éviter

Éviter is a regular -ER verb. It follows the same verb conjugation pattern as other verbs such as emprunter (to borrow) and durer (to last). This is the most common pattern in the French language. As you learn more of these conjugations, each new one gets a little easier.

The simplest conjugations transform the verb into the present, future, or imperfect past tense. Unlike English where the -ed and -ing endings apply to all subjects, the French verb endings change with each subject pronoun as well as each tense.

Use the table to study the various forms of éviter and practice them in context. Simply pair the subject pronoun with the appropriate tense: "I avoid" is "j'évite" and "we will avoid" is "nous éviterons."

Subject	Present	Future	Imperfect
j'	évite	éviterai	évitais
tu	évites	éviteras	évitais
il	évite	évitera	évitait
nous	évitons	éviterons	évitions
vous	évitez	éviterez	évitiez
ils	évitent	éviteront	évitaient

The Present Participle of Éviter

The verb stem of éviter is évit-. We can add -ant to that and create the present participle évitant. This is very useful because it can be an adjective, gerund, or noun as well as a verb.

The Past Participle and Passé Composé

A common way to form the past tense "avoided" in French is with the passé composé. To do this, conjugate the auxiliary verb avoir to fit the subject pronoun, then attach the past participle évité.

For instance, "I avoided" is "j'ai évité" and "we avoided" is "nous avons évité."

More Simple Éviter Conjugations

Among these simple conjugations of éviter, concentrate and practice the verb forms above before moving on. The following conjugations are used less often, but they are useful as you improve your profiecency.

For example, the subjunctive verb form can be used when the verb's action is subjective. Likewise, if the verb is dependent on condition -- if this happens, then this will happen -- use the conditional verb form. The passé simple and imperfect subjunctive are found most often in writing.

Subject	Subjunctive	Conditional	Passé Simple	Imperfect Subjunctive
j'	évite	éviterais	évitai	évitasse
tu	évites	éviterais	évitas	évitasses
il	évite	éviterait	évita	évitât
nous	évitions	éviterions	évitâmes	évitassions
vous	évitiez	éviteriez	évitâtes	évitassiez
ils	évitent	éviteraient	évitèrent	évitassiez

The imperative verb form is used for exclamations, requests, and demands. When using it, keep things short and sweet and drop the subject pronoun: use "évite" rather than "tu évite."

	Imperative
(tu)	évite
(nous)	évitons
(vous)	évitez