How to Conjugate the French Verb Rendre

The literal meaning of rendre (pronounced "ren-dre") is "to return," but it also often means "to restore," "to give in," or "to yield." This French verb can function as a pronominal verb se rendre, too. In addition, rendre is frequently used in idiomatic expressions such as "to give thanks to," "to pay homage to," "to make someone feel something," and many others.

Don't worry about memorizing the multitude of its uses right away. The tables below won't only show you how to conjugate this regular -RE verb in present, past, and other tenses, but they will also give you examples of its usage. Just remember, when you see rendre, think beyond the literal.

Present Indicative

Je	rends	Je me rends alors à l'évidence.	I surrender to the evidence.
Tu	rends	Tu ne te rends pas compte de son importance.	You don't realize its importance.
Il/Elle/On	rend	Elle me rend heureux.	She makes me happy.
Nous	rendons	Nous vous rendons attentif au fait que vous devez renouveler votre inscription ce mois-ci.	We are bringing to your attention that you need to renew your subscription this month.
Vous	rendez	Quand est-ce que vous vous rendez en province?	When are you coming to the countryside?
Ils/Elles	rendent	Ils rendent hommage au Suprême Leader.	They pay homage to the Supreme Leader.

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 rendre, it is formed with the auxiliary verb avoir and the past participle rendu, but remember that as with all pronominal verbs, when rendre changes into se rendre, its auxiliary verb becomes être.

J'	ai rendu	Je me suis rendue coupable du plus grand de tous les crimes.	I (female) committed the worst of all crimes.
Tu	as rendu	Tu as rendu de grands services à la France.	You have rendered great services to France.
Il/Elle/On	a rendu	Paris s'est rendu.	Paris capitulated.
Nous	avons rendu	Nous avons rendu visite au président.	We paid a visit to the president.
Vous	avez rendu	Vous vous êtes rendus utiles aux peuples.	You have made yourselves useful to the people.
Ils/Elles	ont rendu	Il se sont rendus.	They surrendered.

Imperfect Indicative

The imperfect tense is another form of a past tense, but it is used to talk about ongoing or repeated actions in the past. L'imparfait can be translated to English as "was returning/making" or "used to return/make," although it can sometimes also be translated as the simple "returned" or "made," or any other appropriate meaning that rendre can take on, depending on the context.

Je	rendais	Je te rendais l'invitation.	I was returning you the invitation.
Tu	rendais	Tu me rendais responsable de cette gestion.	You were making me responsible for that administration.
Il/Elle/On	rendait	Elle rendait visite à son grand-père.	She would visit her grandfather.
Nous	rendions	Nous vous rendions cet article défectueux.	We were returning you this defective item.
Vous	rendiez	Vous me rendiez trop de monnaie.	You were giving me too much change back.
Ils/Elles	rendaient	Les gongs rendaient un son grave.	The gongs were making a low sound.

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. In the case of rendre, the base we add endings to is rendr-.

Je	rendrai	Je rendrai ce pays ingouvernable.	I will make this country ungovernable.
Tu	rendras	Tu rendras un bel hommage à ta soeur comme ça.	You will pay a nice tribute to your sister like this.
Il/Elle/On	rendra	Il rendra témoignage en ma faveur.	He will testify in my favor.
Nous	rendrons	Nous nous rendrons au travail à pied.	We will walk to work.
Vous	rendrez	Vous rendrez service à tout le monde si vous commencez à vous aimer.	You will do everyone a favor if you start liking yourself.
Ils/Elles	rendront	Elles se rendront disponibles.	They will make themselves available.

Near Future Indicative

Another form of a future tense is the near future, the futur proche, which is the equivalent of 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 (rendre).

Je	vais rendre	Ne voulant pas faire mauvaise impression, je vais m'y rendre.	Since I don't wish to give the wrong impression, I will go and do it.
Tu	vas rendre	Arrête de manger. Tu vas te rendre malade.	Stop eating. You're going to make yourself sick.
Il/Elle/On	va rendre	Elle va le rendre légal.	She is going to make it legal.
Nous	allons rendre	Nous allons rendre le foot plus spectaculaire.	We are going to make soccer more spectacular.
Vous	allez rendre	Vous allez rendre des comptes sur l'utilisation de cet argent.	You are going to be fully accountable for this money.
Ils/Elles	vont rendre	Elles vont rendre une décision ferme.	They are going to come forward with a firm decision.

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 imperfect indicative.

Je	rendrais	Je rendrais visite à ma mère, si elle ne vivait pas si loin.	I would visit my mother if she didn't live so far.
Tu	rendrais	Tu rendrais confuse toute cette question, si tu faisais ça.	You would blur the whole issue if you did that.
Il/Elle/On	rendrait	Elle rendrait davantage public ces plans si c'était possible.	She would make these plans more available to the public if it was possible.
Nous	rendrions	Si on pouvait, nous rendrions un bel hommage à cet ancien député.	If we could, we would pay a nice tribute to this former member.
Vous	rendriez	Vous rendriez tout cela plus cohérent si vous nous donniez plus de détails.	You would make all of this clearer if you gave us more details.
Ils/Elles	rendraient	Ils rendraient leurs recherches plus accessibles, mais ils ne peuvent pas.	They would make their research more accessible, but they are not allowed to.

Present Subjunctive

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

Que je	rende	Il est important que je rende les nuances de ses pensées proprement.	It is important that I render the nuances of his thoughts properly.
Que tu	rendes	Je veux que tu te rendes compte des effets de tes actions.	I want you to realize the consequences of your actions.
Qu'il/elle/on	rende	Il faut qu'elle rende des comptes.	She needs to be held accountable.
Que nous	rendions	Elle désire que nous rendions le développement  durable.	She wishes that we make the development sustainable.
Que vous	rendiez	Il est temps que vous rendiez cet économie encore plus forte.	It is time for you to make the economy even stronger.
Qu'ils/elles	rendent	On propose qu'elles rendent leur opinion sur ce sujet maintenant.	We suggest that they give their opinion on this issue now.

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, ne...plus, or ne...jamais around the verb.

Positive Commands

Tu	rends!	Rends-toi compte de ce que tu fait!	Realize what you're doing!
Nous	rendons!	Rendons-le heureux!	Let's make him happy!
Vous	rendez!	Rendez votre jugement maintenant!	Deliver your verdict now!

Negative Commands

Tu	ne rends pas!	Ne leur rends pas ton avis!	Don't give them your opinion!
Nous	ne rendons pas!	Ne nous-y rendons pas!	Let's not go there!
Vous	ne rendez pas!	Ne leur rendez pas service!	Don't help them!

Present Participle/Gerund

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

Present Participle/Gerund of Rendre

rendant

En me rendant au musée ce matin, j'ai rencontré Margot.

On my way to the museum this morning, I met Margot.