Voir (to see) · All tenses

Voir = to see (passive perception with the eyes): 'je vois la mer' (I see the sea). Regarder = to look at / to watch (active, directed gaze): 'je regarde la mer' (I'm watching the sea). For TV/movies, both work but 'regarder' is more common ('regarder la télé' = to watch TV). Same distinction as Spanish ver/mirar.

Many idioms use voir: 'je vois' (I see — comprehension), 'on verra' (we'll see — common French shrug), 'à voir' (we'll see, maybe — hedged), 'voyons' (literally 'let's see' — used as 'come on now', a soft reproach), 'on voit' (we can see / one can see — generic perception). Voir powers a lot of conversational filler in French.

Use avoir + the past participle 'vu': j'ai vu, tu as vu, il a vu, nous avons vu, vous avez vu, ils ont vu. The participle 'vu' is short and invariable unless preceded by a direct object.

Use 'j'ai vu' for a specific completed sighting: 'hier, j'ai vu un film' (yesterday, I saw a movie). Use 'je voyais' for habitual or ongoing past sight: 'de ma fenêtre, je voyais la mer' (from my window, I used to see the sea). Background = imparfait; finite event = passé composé.

'On a vu' literally means 'we saw / one saw' but is commonly used as 'we've seen [it]' or as a casual acknowledgment: 'on a vu ce film' (we've seen that movie). Combined with 'tout' it becomes 'on a tout vu' (we've seen it all — meaning 'we've experienced everything').

Voir is regular in the imparfait: je voyais, tu voyais, il/elle/on voyait, nous voyions, vous voyiez, ils/elles voyaient. Stem 'voy-' from the nous form 'voyons'.

The stem 'voy-' ends in 'y', and the imparfait endings for nous/vous start with 'i' (-ions, -iez). When combined, the result is 'voy-ions' = 'voyions' with an extra 'i' that's not present in other verbs. The same happens to every verb whose stem ends in -y (croire → croyions, asseoir → asseyions, payer → payions). It's a common spelling-error spot for native French speakers too.

Use 'je voyais' for habitual or ongoing past sight: 'de jeune, je voyais mes grands-parents tous les dimanches' (when young, I used to see my grandparents every Sunday). Use 'j'ai vu' for a specific completed sighting: 'le dimanche, j'ai vu mes grands-parents' (on Sunday, I saw my grandparents).

The subjonctif of voir is: que je voie, que tu voies, qu'il voie, que nous voyions, que vous voyiez, qu'ils voient. Singular forms + ils use 'voi-'; nous/vous use 'voy-' (with the double-i pattern from the imparfait).

Use it after triggers of necessity, will, doubt, or emotion: 'il faut que je voie' (I need to see), 'je veux qu'il voie' (I want him to see), 'avant que tu voies' (before you see). Also used with verbs of perception in negative or doubting contexts: 'je ne crois pas qu'il voie clair' (I don't think he sees clearly).

The subjonctif stem 'voi-' comes from the third-person plural of the present (ils voient → drop -ent → voi-), then adds the subjonctif endings. 'Voie' (subjonctif) and 'vois' (indicative je/tu) sound very similar but are spelled differently. Context disambiguates — the subjonctif appears in 'que' clauses after triggers; the indicative appears in main clauses or statements.

The futur of voir uses 'verr-' (double r): je verrai, tu verras, il/elle/on verra, nous verrons, vous verrez, ils/elles verront. Double 'r' is required — single 'r' is a spelling error.

Voir's futur stem comes from Latin 'videre' (to see), which contracted through Old French to 'veer' → 'ver-'. When the future endings (starting with -r-) attached, the result was 'verr-' with the double 'r' representing both the contracted stem-r and the future-tense -r. Three French verbs have double-r futurs: pouvoir (pourrai), voir (verrai), envoyer (enverrai). All double r.

'On verra' = 'we'll see' — one of the most-used French conversational shrugs. Equivalent to English 'we'll see' or 'we shall see'. Often used to defer a decision: 'tu viens à la fête?' — 'on verra' (are you coming to the party? — we'll see). The futur of voir leans heavily into this generic-future use.

The conditionnel of voir is: je verrais, tu verrais, il/elle/on verrait, nous verrions, vous verriez, ils/elles verraient. Same double-r stem 'verr-' as the futur, plus imperfect endings.

'On verrait bien' literally means 'one would see well' but idiomatically means 'we could see / we'd see how it goes'. Used to propose a tentative experiment: 'on verrait bien si ça marche' (we'd see if it works). The conditional softens the suggestion.

The standard French hypothetical structure is 'si + imparfait, + conditionnel': 'si j'avais le temps, je le verrais' (if I had time, I would see him). The 'si' clause expresses the hypothetical condition (imparfait); the main clause expresses the result (conditionnel). NEVER use the conditionnel in the 'si' clause — that's a classic non-native error.