Promettre Conjugation French: Full Guide and Tenses Chart

Promettre Conjugation French: The Complete Step-by-Step Guide

The French verb promettre translates directly to "to promise". It is one of the most useful and frequent verbs in both daily conversation and formal writing. However, because it belongs to the irregular third group (troisième groupe), many learners struggle with its silent endings, double-consonant shifts, and irregular past participle.

In this comprehensive guide, you will learn how to conjugate promettre in every essential French tense, along with grammatical structures, pronunciation keys, and natural expressions.

Understanding the Family of "Mettre"

• Promettre (to promise)
• Permettre (to permit / allow)
• Compromettre (to compromise)
• Admettre (to admit)
• Soumettre (to submit)

Promettre is a compound derivative of the core root verb mettre (to put). Once you learn the conjugation pattern of mettre, you instantly unlock the conjugations for a whole family of related verbs:

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1. Present Tense (Indicatif Présent)

In the singular forms (je, tu, il), the verb stem uses a single "t" and drops the regular group endings. In the plural forms (nous, vous, ils), it doubles the "t" (-tt-).

Example: Je promets de dire la vérité. (I promise to tell the truth.)

2. Past Tenses

Le Passé Composé

Promettre uses avoir as its auxiliary verb and requires the irregular past participle promis (ending with an unpronounced 's').

• J'ai promis
• Tu as promis
• Il / Elle / On a promis
• Nous avons promis
• Vous avez promis
• Ils / Elles ont promis

Example: Ils ont promis de venir à la fête. (They promised to come to the party.)

L'Imparfait (Imperfect)

To form the imperfect, take the present tense nous stem (promett-) and add standard imperfect endings:

• Je promettais
• Tu promettais
• Il / Elle promettait
• Nous promettions
• Vous promettiez
• Ils / Elles promettaient

Le Passé Simple (Literary Past)

Essential for reading novels and formal literature:

• Je promis
• Tu promis
• Il / Elle promit
• Nous promîmes
• Vous promîtes
• Ils / Elles promirent

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3. Future and Conditional Tenses

Both the future and conditional stems keep the double "t" (promettr-).

Le Futur Simple

• Je promettrai
• Tu promettras
• Il / Elle promettra
• Nous promettrons
• Vous promettrez
• Ils / Elles promettront

Example: Je te promettrai mon soutien quand le moment viendra. (I will promise you my support when the time comes.)

Le Conditionnel Présent

• Je promettrais
• Tu promettrais
• Il / Elle promettrait
• Nous promettrions
• Vous promettriez
• Ils / Elles promettraient

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4. Le Subjonctif Présent

The subjunctive is mandatory after conjunctions of necessity or doubt (il faut que..., bien que...):

• Que je promette
• Que tu promettes
• Qu'il / elle promette
• Que nous promettions
• Que vous promettiez
• Qu'ils / elles promettent

Example: Mes parents veulent que je promette de bien travailler. (My parents want me to promise to work hard.)

5. Imperative & Participles

L'Impératif (Commands)

• (Tu) Promets !
• (Nous) Promettons !
• (Vous) Promettez !

Participles

• Present Participle: promettant (promising)
• Past Participle: promis (promised)
• Gerundive: en promettant (by / while promising)

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6. Key Prepositions and Idiomatic Expressions

To sound natural, pay attention to the prepositions used with promettre:

1. Promettre de + infinitive: Always use de when followed by an action.

• Incorrect: Je promets à venir.
• Correct: Je promets de venir.

2. Promettre quelque chose à quelqu'un: To promise something to someone.

• Example: Il a promis un cadeau à ses enfants.

3. Promettre monts et merveilles: Literal: "to promise mountains and wonders" (to promise the earth / impossible things).

4. Chose promise, chose due: An old saying meaning "a promise made is a debt unpaid" or "a deal's a deal".

Mastering promettre gives you full command over an entire branch of common French irregular verbs. Practice with short sentences daily to lock in these stem changes!