Languages › French How to Conjugate "Lever" in French The French verb for "to lift." Print PeopleImages / Getty Images French Grammar Pronunciation & Conversation Vocabulary Resources For Teachers By ThoughtCo Team Updated on November 20, 2019 In order to say "to lift" or "to raise" in French, you will use the verb lever. Now, if you want to say "lifted" or "will lift," then a conjugation is necessary. This is not one of the easiest French verbs to change to the present, future, and past tense, but a quick lesson will get you started. Conjugations Verb conjugations are required to change the ending so it matches the tense of the verb's action. We do the same in English by adding -ed to form the past tense or -ing to say that something is happening right now. It's a bit more complicated in French, however. Rather than using the same ending no matter if we're talking about me, you, we, or they doing something, the ending changes with every subject pronoun as well as each tense. Unfortunately, that means you have more words to memorize. Rest assured, it does get easier with the more conjugations you learn. Lever is a stem-changing verb and it follows a pattern found in other verbs that end in -e_er. Essentially, in the present and future forms, the first e needs a grave accent and becomes è. The only exception is the vous present tense. Using the chart, you can easily learn the proper conjugations for lever. For instance, to say "I am lifting," you would say "je lève." Likewise, "we will lift" is "nous lèverons." Subject Present Future Imperfect je lève lèverai levais tu lèves lèveras levais il lève lèvera levait nous lèvons lèverons levions vous levez lèverez leviez ils lèvent lèveront levaient The Present Participle Creating the present participle of lever is extremely simple. All you need to do is add -ant to the verb stem of lev- and you get levant. Not only is this a verb, but it can also be used as an adjective, gerund, or noun in some circumstances. The Passé Composé and Past Participle Beside the imperfect, you can express the past tense in French using the passé composé. It's rather easy, you will just need to conjugate the auxiliary verb avoir to match the subject, then add the past participle levé. For example, "I lifted" is "j'ai levé" and "we lifted" is "nous avons levé." More Simple Conjugations to Learn Among the other simple conjugations of lever that you might need are the verb moods known as the subjunctive and conditional. The subjunctive says that the verb's action may not happen because it is uncertain. Similarly, the conditional is used when the action will only happen if something else also occurs. With less frequency, you may come across the passé simple and the imperfect subjunctive. Each of these is a literary verb form and primarily found in formal French writing. While you may not need them, it's good to be able to associate them with lever. Subject Subjunctive Conditional Passé Simple Imperfect Subjunctive je lève lèverais levai levasse tu lèves lèverais levas levasses il lève lèverait leva levât nous levions lèverions levâmes levassions vous leviez lèveriez levâtes levassiez ils lèvent lèveraient levèrent levassent When you want to express lever in short and direct sentences, use the imperative form. In this one, there's no need to include the subject pronoun: use "lève" rather than "tu lève." Imperative (tu) lève (nous) levons (vous) levez Cite this Article Format mla apa chicago Your Citation Team, ThoughtCo. "How to Conjugate "Lever" in French." ThoughtCo, Apr. 5, 2023, thoughtco.com/lever-to-lift-1370484. Team, ThoughtCo. (2023, April 5). How to Conjugate "Lever" in French. Retrieved from https://www.thoughtco.com/lever-to-lift-1370484 Team, ThoughtCo. "How to Conjugate "Lever" in French." ThoughtCo. https://www.thoughtco.com/lever-to-lift-1370484 (accessed March 29, 2024). copy citation By clicking “Accept All Cookies”, you agree to the storing of cookies on your device to enhance site navigation, analyze site usage, and assist in our marketing efforts. Cookies Settings Accept All Cookies