Envoyer is the verb to send — and despite being completely ordinary in meaning, it hides one of the most surprising irregularities in French. On the surface it looks like a regular -yer verb (compare essayer, payer, employer) and follows the standard y → i alternation before a silent -e (j'envoie, tu envoies, ils envoient, but nous envoyons, vous envoyez). But in the future and conditional it goes off-script entirely: j'enverrai, je conditionnel j'enverrais — with a double -rr- that no other -yer verb has. Forget j'envoyerai exists; the form is j'enverrai. This same irregularity is shared with its compound renvoyer (to send back, to dismiss, to fire).
This page covers every paradigm, calls out the double-r trap explicitly, and walks through the productive idioms from envoyer un mail (send an email) to envoyer balader (tell someone to get lost). Envoyer is one of those verbs you cannot avoid and cannot half-learn — get the future stem wrong and you sound like a beginner.
The simple tenses
The conjugation has two surprises: (1) standard -yer alternation (y before -ons/-ez, i elsewhere) and (2) the irregular future/conditional stem enverr-. Everything else is regular -er.
Présent de l'indicatif
The y → i rule operates here. Y before a pronounced ending (-ons, -ez) stays y; y before a silent ending (-e, -es, -ent) becomes i. The two stems are envoi- and envoy-.
| Person | Form | Pronunciation |
|---|---|---|
| j' | envoie | /ɑ̃.vwa/ |
| tu | envoies | /ɑ̃.vwa/ |
| il / elle / on | envoie | /ɑ̃.vwa/ |
| nous | envoyons | /ɑ̃.vwa.jɔ̃/ |
| vous | envoyez | /ɑ̃.vwa.je/ |
| ils / elles | envoient | /ɑ̃.vwa/ |
The 1sg, 2sg, 3sg, and 3pl are all pronounced /ɑ̃.vwa/. The pronoun and any liaison cues are the only audible difference between je, tu, il, and ils envoie/envoient. In writing, the -y- signals the consonantal /j/ glide that surfaces in envoyons and envoyez; the -i- signals the absence of that glide.
J'envoie un mail au prof tout de suite.
I'm sending an email to the prof right now.
Tu envoies toujours des cartes postales quand tu pars en vacances ?
Do you still send postcards when you go on holiday?
On envoie les enfants à l'école à pied le matin.
We send the kids to school on foot in the morning.
Ils envoient leurs invitations par WhatsApp maintenant.
They're sending their invitations by WhatsApp now.
Imparfait
Built on the envoy- stem (taken from nous envoyons) with the standard imparfait endings. Note: in 1pl and 2pl, the -y- of the stem and the -i- of the ending end up adjacent, giving the spellings envoyions and envoyiez — both letters are written.
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| j' | envoyais |
| tu | envoyais |
| il / elle / on | envoyait |
| nous | envoyions |
| vous | envoyiez |
| ils / elles | envoyaient |
The double-letter sequence -yi- in envoyions/envoyiez is one of the most commonly forgotten spellings in French. The pronunciation is identical to envoyons/envoyez (the imparfait i doesn't surface as a separate sound), but the spelling demands both letters.
Avant les portables, on s'envoyait des lettres tous les mois.
Before mobile phones, we used to write each other letters every month.
Vous envoyiez vos enfants en colonie de vacances l'été ?
Did you used to send your kids to summer camp?
Passé simple (literary)
Standard 1er-groupe pattern on the full envoy- stem. Watch the diacritics: circumflex on envoyâmes and envoyâtes; grave on envoyèrent.
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| j' | envoyai |
| tu | envoyas |
| il / elle / on | envoya |
| nous | envoyâmes |
| vous | envoyâtes |
| ils / elles | envoyèrent |
Le roi envoya ses meilleurs émissaires négocier la paix.
The king sent his best emissaries to negotiate peace. (literary)
Futur simple — the double-r irregularity
This is the form everyone gets wrong on first encounter. The future stem of envoyer is not envoyer- (which would be the regular form) and not envoier-. It is enverr- — with a double -rr- and the -y- dropped entirely.
| Person | Form | Pronunciation |
|---|---|---|
| j' | enverrai | /ɑ̃.vɛ.ʁe/ |
| tu | enverras | /ɑ̃.vɛ.ʁa/ |
| il / elle / on | enverra | /ɑ̃.vɛ.ʁa/ |
| nous | enverrons | /ɑ̃.vɛ.ʁɔ̃/ |
| vous | enverrez | /ɑ̃.vɛ.ʁe/ |
| ils / elles | enverront | /ɑ̃.vɛ.ʁɔ̃/ |
The -rr- is pronounced as a single rolled or uvular r — not lengthened or doubled in speech, but the spelling remains double. A small handful of verbs share a double-r future spelling: voir (je verrai), courir (je courrai), mourir (je mourrai), pouvoir (je pourrai), and envoyer / renvoyer. Envoyer is the only -yer verb in this club — it is not the regular -er future stem you'd expect from essayer or payer, both of which conserve their full infinitive: j'essaierai / je paierai.
Je t'enverrai les photos dès que je rentre.
I'll send you the photos as soon as I get home.
On vous enverra le devis par mail demain matin.
We'll send you the quote by email tomorrow morning.
Mes parents enverront les invitations la semaine prochaine.
My parents will send out the invitations next week.
Conditionnel présent
Same irregular enverr- stem with imparfait endings. Same warning applies: never envoyerais.
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| j' | enverrais |
| tu | enverrais |
| il / elle / on | enverrait |
| nous | enverrions |
| vous | enverriez |
| ils / elles | enverraient |
Je t'enverrais bien quelque chose, mais je n'ai pas ton adresse.
I'd send you something, but I don't have your address.
Si on t'invitait, est-ce que tu enverrais une réponse rapidement ?
If we invited you, would you reply quickly?
Subjonctif présent
Two stems, same as the present indicative: envoi- (singular and 3pl) and envoy- (1pl and 2pl). The 1pl/2pl forms have the -yi- double-letter sequence, identical to the imparfait.
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| (que) j' | envoie |
| (que) tu | envoies |
| (qu')il / elle / on | envoie |
| (que) nous | envoyions |
| (que) vous | envoyiez |
| (qu')ils / elles | envoient |
Il faut que tu m'envoies ton CV avant vendredi.
You need to send me your CV before Friday.
Je préfère qu'ils envoient un message plutôt qu'ils appellent.
I'd rather they send a message than call.
Impératif
Three forms. The tu form drops the final -s (envoie, not envoies) — the standard -er truncation rule, despite the -yer alternation.
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| (tu) | envoie |
| (nous) | envoyons |
| (vous) | envoyez |
The truncated envoie recovers an -s before the pronouns en and y (the same rule as vas-y): envoies-en (send some), envoies-y (send some there). These forms are mostly written; in speech the elision is rare.
Envoie-moi un message dès que tu arrives !
Send me a message as soon as you get there!
Envoyez les invitations dès demain, ça presse.
Send out the invitations starting tomorrow, it's urgent.
Participles and gérondif
- Participe passé: envoyé (agrees with a preceding direct object only — envoyer takes avoir)
- Participe présent: envoyant
- Gérondif: en envoyant
En envoyant ce message, j'ai compris que je commettais une erreur.
As I sent that message, I realized I was making a mistake.
The compound tenses
Envoyer takes avoir as its auxiliary in every compound tense. The participle envoyé agrees with a preceding direct object (the standard avoir agreement rule), not with the subject.
Passé composé
avoir (présent) + envoyé
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| j' | ai envoyé |
| tu | as envoyé |
| il / elle / on | a envoyé |
| nous | avons envoyé |
| vous | avez envoyé |
| ils / elles | ont envoyé |
Je lui ai envoyé un message hier soir, il n'a toujours pas répondu.
I sent him a message last night, he still hasn't replied.
Les lettres que tu m'as envoyées sont arrivées hier.
The letters you sent me arrived yesterday.
In the second example, the participle agrees with les lettres (feminine plural) because the direct object precedes the verb (relative pronoun que).
Other compound tenses
- Plus-que-parfait: avoir (imparfait) + envoyé — j'avais envoyé
- Futur antérieur: avoir (futur) + envoyé — j'aurai envoyé
- Conditionnel passé: avoir (conditionnel) + envoyé — j'aurais envoyé
J'avais envoyé la facture deux fois avant qu'ils la traitent.
I'd sent the invoice twice before they processed it.
Je t'aurais envoyé un mot, mais je n'avais pas ton adresse.
I'd have sent you a note, but I didn't have your address.
The core uses
1. Envoyer + direct object (+ à + indirect object): send something to someone
The basic and overwhelmingly common use. The thing sent is a direct object; the recipient is introduced by à. With pronoun objects, French uses the indirect-object pronoun (me, te, lui, nous, vous, leur).
J'ai envoyé un colis à ma sœur pour son anniversaire.
I sent my sister a package for her birthday.
Tu lui as envoyé le contrat ?
Did you send him the contract?
Elle nous envoie toujours une carte pour Noël.
She always sends us a card for Christmas.
2. Envoyer chercher / envoyer + infinitive — send for, send to do
Envoyer + bare infinitive expresses sending someone to perform an action. The frequent fixed expression is envoyer chercher — to send (someone) to fetch (something).
Mes parents ont envoyé chercher le médecin en pleine nuit.
My parents sent for the doctor in the middle of the night.
On envoie les stagiaires acheter le café tous les matins — c'est une tradition.
We send the interns to buy coffee every morning — it's a tradition.
Sa mère l'a envoyé chercher du pain à la boulangerie.
His mother sent him to get bread from the bakery.
3. Envoyer un mail / un message / une lettre — modern communication
The default verb for sending any message — emails, texts, letters, voicemails, parcels. In modern French, the universal phrasing is envoyer un mail (or envoyer un email; both are common, mail slightly more so in casual speech) and envoyer un message.
Je t'envoie un mail tout à l'heure avec les détails.
I'll shoot you an email later with the details.
Tu m'enverras un message quand tu seras arrivée ?
Will you text me when you get there?
On lui a envoyé une carte postale du Mont Saint-Michel.
We sent her a postcard from Mont Saint-Michel.
4. Envoyer balader / envoyer promener / envoyer paître — tell someone to get lost (slang)
A productive family for telling someone off. Envoyer balader is the most common in everyday speech; envoyer paître is slightly older / more rural; envoyer promener is neutral between them.
Quand il m'a fait sa proposition, je l'ai envoyé balader.
When he made his pitch, I told him where to go. (informal)
Tu devrais envoyer promener ton ex et passer à autre chose.
You should tell your ex to get lost and move on. (informal)
There is also envoyer chier (vulgar) and envoyer bouler (informal, not vulgar), both meaning roughly the same.
Elle l'a envoyé bouler dès qu'il a commencé à râler.
She told him off the moment he started complaining. (informal)
The compound: renvoyer
Renvoyer shares every quirk of envoyer's conjugation, including the irregular future renverr- (je renverrai, never renvoyerai). Three meanings to know:
- Send back (a letter, a parcel, a defective product)
- Refer / redirect (to a specialist; le médecin m'a renvoyé chez un spécialiste)
- Dismiss / fire (employees: l'entreprise a renvoyé trois cadres; students: renvoyer un élève = expel)
Je t'ai renvoyé ton mail avec mes commentaires.
I sent your email back to you with my comments.
Ils l'ont renvoyé pour faute grave après quinze ans dans la boîte.
They fired him for serious misconduct after fifteen years at the company.
Comparison with English
The double-r future. English will send is transparent; French j'enverrai is opaque without memorization. The intuitive form j'envoyerai does not exist in standard French.
The recipient is always introduced by à. English alternates between send X to Y and the bare-recipient send Y X. French only has the prepositional version: envoyer quelque chose *à quelqu'un. The dative-shift *send Y X is impossible.
No phrasal-verb proliferation. English has send off / out / for / up / in / back — each with a different meaning. French uses envoyer by itself for most of these and renvoyer for send back.
Common Mistakes
Mistake 1: Using envoyerai instead of enverrai.
❌ Je t'envoyerai le document demain.
Wrong — the future stem of envoyer is irregular: enverr-, with double r.
✅ Je t'enverrai le document demain.
I'll send you the document tomorrow.
Mistake 2: Forgetting the double-letter -yi- in the imparfait 1pl/2pl and subjunctive 1pl/2pl.
❌ Quand nous envoyons des cartes l'an dernier...
Wrong — imparfait nous envoyions has -yi- (you write y AND i).
✅ Quand nous envoyions des cartes l'an dernier...
When we used to send cards last year...
Mistake 3: Confusing envoyer + à with a direct construction.
❌ J'ai envoyé Marie un cadeau.
Wrong — French requires à before the recipient: envoyer un cadeau à Marie.
✅ J'ai envoyé un cadeau à Marie.
I sent Marie a gift.
Mistake 4: Treating envoyer balader literally.
❌ J'ai envoyé mon chien balader. (intending: I told my dog to get lost.)
Misleading — envoyer balader is a fixed idiom about people, not a literal command.
✅ J'ai envoyé mon collègue balader quand il m'a interrompu.
I told my colleague off when he interrupted me.
Mistake 5: Forgetting past-participle agreement with a preceding direct object.
❌ Les lettres que tu m'as envoyé.
Wrong — preceding direct object les lettres triggers agreement: envoyées.
✅ Les lettres que tu m'as envoyées.
The letters you sent me.
Key takeaways
Envoyer has two distinct surprises: the standard -yer alternation (envoie in singulars and 3pl; envoyons in 1pl/2pl), and the irregular double-r future stem enverr- (j'enverrai, never envoyerai). The same enverr- stem drives the conditional.
Compound tenses use avoir; the participle envoyé agrees only with a preceding direct object. The four major uses are envoyer + DO + à + IO (send X to Y), envoyer chercher / + infinitive (send for, send to do), envoyer un mail/message/une lettre, and envoyer balader / promener (informal "tell someone to get lost").
The compound renvoyer shares every quirk, including the renverr- future. Burn this in: j'enverrai, with two r's.
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