voir

Irregular Verb Voir (To See)

Level 1

voir (to see/understand)
Je vois, Tu vois, Il voit, Nous voyons, Vous voyez, Ils voient.

How It Works

The verb voir belongs to the third group of irregular verbs. It is one of the most common verbs in French and has several uses:

  • Physical Perception: To see something with your eyes.
  • Figurative Understanding: Similar to English, 'Je vois' can mean 'I understand' or 'I see what you mean.'
  • Social Meetings: To see or visit someone (e.g., 'Je vois mon médecin').

Conjugation Pattern:
The stem is voi- for most forms, but it switches to voy- for the nous and vous forms to preserve the sound. Note that vois, vois, voit, and voient are all pronounced exactly the same way ([vwa]).

Grammar Note: Unlike English, which often uses the present continuous ('I am seeing'), French uses the simple present tense (voir present tense) for both current actions and habits. To ask a question, you can use est-ce que, and for negation, use ne...pas.

Examples (5)

  1. Je vois la tour Eiffel depuis ma chambre.

    I see the Eiffel Tower from my room.

    Word by Word: I see the tower Eiffel from my room.

    This shows the primary use of 'voir' for physical sight.

  2. Ah, je vois ce que tu veux dire !

    Ah, I see what you mean!

    Word by Word: Ah, I see that which you want to say!

    Here, 'voir' is used figuratively to mean 'understand'.

  3. Nous voyons nos amis ce soir.

    We are seeing our friends tonight.

    Word by Word: We see our friends this evening.

    Notice the stem change to 'voy-' in the 'nous' form. This refers to a social meeting.

  4. Est-ce que vous voyez le panneau ?

    Do you see the sign?

    Word by Word: Is it that you see the sign?

    Using 'voir' in a question with 'est-ce que'.

  5. Ils ne voient pas le problème.

    They don't see the problem.

    Word by Word: They not see not the problem.

    The 'ils' form ends in '-ent' but the 'y' from 'nous/vous' disappears.

Common Mistakes

  • Using 'voir' for watching TV.

    Je vois la télé tous les soirs.
    Je regarde la télé tous les soirs.

    'Voir' is passive (sight happens to you), while 'regarder' is active (you intentionally watch). Say 'regarder la télé'. (For a film you go out to see, 'voir un film' is fine.)

  • Incorrectly spelling the 'ils/elles' form as 'voyent'.

    Ils voyent le chat.
    Ils voient le chat.

    The 'y' only appears in the 'nous' and 'vous' forms. The third-person plural returns to the 'voi-' stem.

  • Using a present participle after 'voir' like in English.

    Je le vois courant.
    Je le vois courir.

    In French, when you see someone doing an action, you use the infinitive (to run) rather than the '-ing' form.

How It Connects

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voirLevel 1Irregular Verb Voir (To See)

Learn This First

To learn the irregular verb 'voir', you first need to be familiar with French subject pronouns and the basic structure of a sentence (Subject-Verb-Object).

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Words in This Pattern

voir