French grammar · Intermediate
Voir in French: Conjugation, Uses, and Voir vs. Regarder
Voir means to see, and in French it also covers meeting up, understanding and finding out. Its stem alternates between voi- and voy- (je vois, nous voyons), its future is the doubled-r verrai, and its participle is vu, one of the most useful past participles in the language.
Je ne vois rien sans mes lunettes.
I can't see anything without my glasses.
What it is
Voir describes perception that happens to you rather than perception you choose. You do not decide to see something; it enters your field of vision. That is the whole difference between voir and regarder, and it explains why voir also drifts into meaning to understand and to find out.
Je vois, tu vois, il voit, nous voyons, vous voyez, ils voient. — I see, you see, he sees, we see, you see, they see.
How to spot it
The stem is voi- when the ending is silent and voy- when the ending is heard, exactly as in croire. The future and conditional break the pattern with a doubled r: je verrai, je verrais.
- Tu vois la tour Eiffel d'ici ? — Can you see the Eiffel Tower from here?
- Nous voyons nos voisins tous les jours. — We see our neighbours every day.
- Ils voient le problème autrement. — They see the problem differently.
- On verra bien demain. — We'll see tomorrow.
French does not add pouvoir to talk about being able to see. Je vois already means I can see; je peux voir suggests permission or access rather than eyesight.
Voir Quick Reference
The main uses of voir
| Use | English | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Physical sight | to see | je vois la mer — I can see the sea |
| Meeting someone | to see, to meet | je le vois demain — I'm seeing him tomorrow |
| Understanding | to see, to get it | ah, je vois — ah, I see |
| Finding out | to see, to check | on verra — we'll see |
| voir + infinitive | to see someone do | je l'ai vu partir — I saw him leave |
| aller voir | to go and see | va voir le médecin — go and see the doctor |
| faire voir | to show | fais-moi voir — let me see |
| se voir | to meet up, to be obvious | ça se voit — you can tell |
Common Voir Examples in French
Voir doing each of its jobs:
Seeing With Your Eyes
- Je vois de la lumière chez eux.
- I can see a light on at their place.
- On ne voit rien dans ce brouillard.
- You can't see anything in this fog.
- Tu as vu ce qui est arrivé ?
- Did you see what happened?
- Elle voit mal de l'œil gauche.
- She can't see well out of her left eye.
Voir mal and voir bien describe eyesight; mal voir with the adverb first is not how French orders it here.
Seeing People
- Je vois Julie ce soir.
- I'm seeing Julie tonight.
- On se voit la semaine prochaine ?
- Shall we meet up next week?
- Je ne l'ai pas vu depuis des mois.
- I haven't seen him for months.
- Va voir ta grand-mère.
- Go and see your grandmother.
Se voir is the ordinary way to arrange to meet: on se voit quand ?, when shall we meet?
Understanding and Judging
- Ah, je vois ce que tu veux dire.
- Ah, I see what you mean.
- Je ne vois pas l'intérêt.
- I don't see the point.
- Il voit tout en noir.
- He sees everything negatively.
- Voyons les choses en face.
- Let's face facts.
Voyons on its own is a mild reproach, close to come on now.
Voir Plus an Infinitive
- Je l'ai vu sortir de l'immeuble.
- I saw him come out of the building.
- Nous avons vu le train partir.
- We saw the train leave.
- Elle a vu son fils grandir.
- She watched her son grow up.
- On voit la neige tomber.
- You can see the snow falling.
No preposition and no que: the infinitive follows directly, as it does after entendre and sentir.
How Voir Works
Two stems, one doubled-r future, and a set of structures that don't line up with English.
Voi- and Voy- Follow the Ending
The stem is voy- before a pronounced ending and voi- before a silent one. That gives nous voyons and je voyais on one side, je vois and ils voient on the other.
Nous voyions les montagnes depuis la fenêtre.
We used to see the mountains from the window.
Heard ending → voy-.
The Future Stem Is Verr-
Voir is one of the verbs that doubles its r in the future and the conditional: je verrai, tu verras, je verrais. The doubled r is pronounced, which is your main clue when listening.
On verra ce qu'elle en pense.
We'll see what she thinks of it.
verr-, not voir-.
No Auxiliary for Ability
English needs can with see and hear. French does not: the present of voir already covers can see. Adding pouvoir shifts the meaning to being allowed or able to get access.
Tu vois le panneau là-bas ?
Can you see the sign over there?
je vois = I can see.
Voir Plus Infinitive, No Que
To report perceiving an action, French uses voir plus the bare infinitive. The person seen becomes the object of voir: je l'ai vu tomber, I saw him fall.
Je les ai vus entrer dans le magasin.
I saw them go into the shop.
voir + object + infinitive.
Se Voir Has Two Meanings
Reciprocally, se voir means to meet: on se voit demain. Impersonally, ça se voit means it shows or you can tell, a passive use of the pronominal form.
Ça se voit qu'elle est fatiguée.
You can tell she's tired.
on se voit = we meet; ça se voit = it shows.
Common Mistakes with Voir
Incorrect: Je peux voir la mer d'ici. — I can see the sea from here.
Correct: Je vois la mer d'ici. — I can see the sea from here.
The French present already contains the idea of being able to perceive. Adding pouvoir suggests you have permission or the opportunity to look, which isn't what can see means.
Incorrect: Nous voyons un film hier soir. — We saw a film last night.
Correct: Nous avons vu un film hier soir. — We saw a film last night.
Hier soir is a completed point in the past, so it needs the passé composé. Voir takes avoir, and its participle is vu.
Incorrect: Je voirai demain. — I'll see tomorrow.
Correct: Je verrai demain. — I'll see tomorrow.
Voir doesn't build its future on the infinitive. The stem is verr-, with two r's, giving je verrai and je verrais.
Incorrect: J'ai vu qu'il partir. — I saw him leave.
Correct: Je l'ai vu partir. — I saw him leave.
Verbs of perception take an object plus a bare infinitive, with no que. If you do use que, the clause needs its own conjugated verb: j'ai vu qu'il partait.
Voir Conjugated
Three things to hold on to: the voi-/voy- alternation, the verr- future, and the participle vu.
Present, imperfect, future, subjunctive
The future and conditional use verr-. The subjunctive borrows voi- in the singular and voy- for nous and vous, just like the imperfect.
| Pronoun | présent | imparfait | futur | subjonctif |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| je / j' | vois | voyais | verrai | voie |
| tu | vois | voyais | verras | voies |
| il / elle / on | voit | voyait | verra | voie |
| nous | voyons | voyions | verrons | voyions |
| vous | voyez | voyiez | verrez | voyiez |
| ils / elles | voient | voyaient | verront | voient |
Voie, voies, voient are pronounced identically to vois and voit. Only nous voyions and vous voyiez sound different.
Compound tenses and the conditional
Voir takes avoir, and vu is invariable after it unless a direct object comes first: les films que j'ai vus.
| Pronoun | passé composé | plus-que-parfait | conditionnel |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j' | ai vu | avais vu | verrais |
| tu | as vu | avais vu | verrais |
| il / elle / on | a vu | avait vu | verrait |
| nous | avons vu | avions vu | verrions |
| vous | avez vu | aviez vu | verriez |
| ils / elles | ont vu | avaient vu | verraient |
The imperative is vois, voyons, voyez, and all three are used more as discourse markers than as orders.
The verbs built on voir
Revoir, prévoir and entrevoir take the present of voir unchanged, but they don't all keep its future.
| Pronoun | revoir | prévoir | entrevoir |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j' | revois | prévois | entrevois |
| tu | revois | prévois | entrevois |
| il / elle / on | revoit | prévoit | entrevoit |
| nous | revoyons | prévoyons | entrevoyons |
| vous | revoyez | prévoyez | entrevoyez |
| ils / elles | revoient | prévoient | entrevoient |
Prévoir has a regular future, je prévoirai, while revoir and entrevoir keep the doubled r: je reverrai, j'entreverrai.
Voir in Everyday Expressions
Voir generates a large number of set phrases, several of which have drifted a long way from seeing.
Voir as a discourse marker
Several forms of voir have become conversational fillers that soften or frame what you're saying.
- Attends voir.
- Hang on, let's see.
- Voyons, ce n'est pas si grave.
- Come on now, it's not that serious.
- Fais-moi voir ta photo.
- Let me see your photo.
- Tu vois, c'est plus compliqué que ça.
- You see, it's more complicated than that.
Tacked on to an imperative, voir just adds insistence: dis-moi voir, écoute voir.
Idioms with vu and voir
A handful of fixed phrases use voir figuratively and can't be worked out from the parts.
- Ça n'a rien à voir.
- That has nothing to do with it.
- Il n'y voit plus clair.
- He can't think straight any more.
- Je ne peux pas la voir.
- I can't stand her.
- On aura tout vu !
- Now I've seen everything!
Ne rien avoir à voir avec is the standard way to say to be unrelated to.
Aller voir and venir voir
For visiting people, French says go and see with no conjunction: aller voir, venir voir, passer voir.
- Je vais voir mes parents ce week-end.
- I'm going to see my parents this weekend.
- Viens me voir quand tu veux.
- Come and see me whenever you like.
- Il faut aller voir un spécialiste.
- You need to go and see a specialist.
- Passe nous voir un de ces jours.
- Drop in and see us one of these days.
Visiter is used for places, not people: visiter un musée, but aller voir un ami.
Voir FAQs
- How do you conjugate voir in French?
- Present: je vois, tu vois, il voit, nous voyons, vous voyez, ils voient. The imperfect is je voyais, the future je verrai with a doubled r, and the past participle vu, giving j'ai vu.
- What's the difference between voir and regarder?
- Voir is perceiving, regarder is choosing to look. J'ai vu un accident means one entered my field of vision; j'ai regardé l'accident means I stood there watching it. For TV, French says regarder la télé.
- Why is the future of voir je verrai?
- Voir belongs to a small group whose future stem doubles the r: voir gives verr-, envoyer gives enverr-, and pouvoir gives pourr-. The endings are the ordinary future endings, so je verrai, nous verrons.
- How do you say 'I can see' in French?
- Just je vois. French treats seeing as something that either happens or doesn't, so it doesn't need a modal. Je peux voir exists but means I'm able to get a look at it, which is a different claim.
- What does ça se voit mean?
- It shows, or you can tell. It's the pronominal voir used passively: ça se voit qu'il est content, you can tell he's pleased. The same form also means to meet up: on se voit demain.