Mettre is the high-frequency verb that English splits between several different verbs: put, place, put on (clothing), turn on (an appliance), take (an amount of time), set (a table). Whatever you do that involves locating something somewhere, or transferring an object onto a body or into a state, French most likely uses mettre. It is also the lexical core of an entire family of derived verbs — permettre, promettre, admettre, soumettre, transmettre — that all conjugate identically.
This page is the full reference: the paradigms in every tense, the participle, the family of compounds, the major uses, and the idioms you cannot live without. Use it as a lookup.
The simple tenses
These are the tenses formed without an auxiliary.
Présent de l'indicatif
The hallmark of mettre is the consonant alternation: the singular forms drop one t (one consonant in the spelling, one in the pronunciation), the plural forms keep both. Singular je mets, tu mets, il met is pronounced /mɛ/. Plural nous mettons, vous mettez, ils mettent restores the /t/.
| Person | Form | Pronunciation |
|---|---|---|
| je | mets | /mɛ/ |
| tu | mets | /mɛ/ |
| il / elle / on | met | /mɛ/ |
| nous | mettons | /mɛtɔ̃/ |
| vous | mettez | /mɛte/ |
| ils / elles | mettent | /mɛt/ |
Je mets toujours mes clés sur l'étagère, mais cette fois je ne les retrouve plus.
I always put my keys on the shelf, but this time I can't find them anywhere.
Tu mets du sucre dans ton café ?
Do you take sugar in your coffee?
Imparfait
Built on the plural stem mett- plus the regular imparfait endings.
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| je | mettais |
| tu | mettais |
| il / elle / on | mettait |
| nous | mettions |
| vous | mettiez |
| ils / elles | mettaient |
Quand on était enfants, ma mère mettait toujours la radio pendant le petit-déjeuner.
When we were kids, my mother always had the radio on during breakfast.
Avant, je mettais une heure pour aller au travail.
It used to take me an hour to get to work.
Passé simple (literary)
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| je | mis |
| tu | mis |
| il / elle / on | mit |
| nous | mîmes |
| vous | mîtes |
| ils / elles | mirent |
The circumflex on mîmes and mîtes is mandatory in literary writing. Note that mis / mis / mit are identical to the past participle mis — a coincidence to be aware of when reading older novels.
Il mit son chapeau et sortit sans un mot.
He put on his hat and left without a word. (literary)
Ils mirent trois jours à traverser la montagne.
They took three days to cross the mountain. (literary)
Futur simple
Stem mettr- plus the regular futur endings. Notice the double t survives — same as in the infinitive.
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| je | mettrai |
| tu | mettras |
| il / elle / on | mettra |
| nous | mettrons |
| vous | mettrez |
| ils / elles | mettront |
Je mettrai ton paquet à la poste demain matin, c'est promis.
I'll drop your package off at the post office tomorrow morning, I promise.
On mettra du temps à s'y habituer, mais on s'y fera.
It'll take us some time to get used to it, but we'll manage.
Conditionnel présent
Same stem mettr- as the futur, with the imparfait endings.
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| je | mettrais |
| tu | mettrais |
| il / elle / on | mettrait |
| nous | mettrions |
| vous | mettriez |
| ils / elles | mettraient |
À ta place, je mettrais une veste — il fait plus froid que tu ne crois.
If I were you, I'd put on a jacket — it's colder than you think.
Subjonctif présent
Stem mett-, same as the imparfait stem, with the standard subjunctive endings.
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| (que) je | mette |
| (que) tu | mettes |
| (qu')il / elle / on | mette |
| (que) nous | mettions |
| (que) vous | mettiez |
| (qu')ils / elles | mettent |
Il faut que tu mettes une cravate pour l'entretien.
You need to wear a tie for the interview.
Je voudrais qu'on se mette d'accord avant de partir.
I'd like us to agree on this before we leave.
Impératif
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| (tu) | mets |
| (nous) | mettons |
| (vous) | mettez |
Mets-toi à l'aise, je reviens dans une minute.
Make yourself comfortable, I'll be back in a minute.
Mettez vos bagages dans le coffre, je m'en occupe.
Put your bags in the trunk, I'll take care of it.
Participles
- Participe passé: mis (feminine mise, plural mis / mises)
- Participe présent: mettant
- Gérondif: en mettant
The feminine mise has an audible final consonant /miz/, which is what allows you to hear participle agreement in the spoken language: je l'ai mise (referring to la lettre) sounds different from je l'ai mis (referring to le livre).
En mettant un peu de sel, le plat sera parfait.
By adding a little salt, the dish will be perfect.
The compound tenses
Mettre uses avoir as its auxiliary. The participle agrees with a preceding direct object — the standard avoir-rule.
Passé composé
avoir (présent) + mis
J'ai mis ton manteau dans l'armoire.
I put your coat in the closet.
On a mis trois heures à finir le rapport.
It took us three hours to finish the report.
Tu as vu la robe que j'ai mise hier ?
Did you see the dress I wore yesterday? (Agreement: la robe is a preceding direct object, so mis becomes mise.)
Plus-que-parfait, futur antérieur, conditionnel passé
The other compound tenses follow the standard pattern: avoir in the relevant tense + mis.
J'avais mis les billets dans mon portefeuille, mais ils n'y sont plus.
I had put the tickets in my wallet, but they're not there anymore.
J'aurais mis une cravate si j'avais su que c'était formel.
I would have worn a tie if I'd known it was formal.
The core uses
Mettre is one of the most polysemous verbs in French. Each of these uses is high-frequency.
1. Place an object somewhere
The literal core meaning: put X in / on / under / behind Y.
Mets le pain sur la table, s'il te plaît.
Put the bread on the table, please.
J'ai mis tes chaussures dans l'entrée.
I put your shoes in the hallway.
Ne mets pas tes affaires sur mon bureau.
Don't put your things on my desk.
2. Put on (clothing)
For the act of putting on a piece of clothing — getting dressed in it — French uses mettre. Porter means to wear (the state of having something on). Many beginners use porter for both senses.
Je vais mettre une veste, il fait froid dehors.
I'm going to put on a jacket, it's cold outside.
Qu'est-ce que tu mets pour le mariage ?
What are you wearing to the wedding? (i.e., what will you put on)
Mets ton bonnet, on y va.
Put your hat on, we're going.
The mettre / porter contrast is sharp: je mets ma robe (I put on my dress, the act) vs je porte une robe rouge (I'm wearing a red dress, the state). See choosing/mettre-vs-porter for the full distinction.
3. Turn on (an appliance)
For powering on a device — TV, radio, oven, heating, light, music — French uses mettre.
Mets la télé, le match commence dans cinq minutes.
Turn on the TV, the match starts in five minutes.
Tu peux mettre la lumière, s'il te plaît ? Je n'y vois rien.
Can you turn on the light, please? I can't see a thing.
Il fait froid, je mets le chauffage.
It's cold, I'm turning the heat on.
The opposite is éteindre (turn off). Both are everyday verbs.
4. Take an amount of time
mettre + duration + à / pour + infinitive
This is the standard way to say it takes me X to do Y. Crucially, the subject is the person, not the time.
Je mets vingt minutes pour aller au bureau.
It takes me twenty minutes to get to the office.
On a mis deux heures à trouver une place de parking.
It took us two hours to find a parking spot.
Combien de temps tu mets pour préparer ce gâteau ?
How long does it take you to make this cake?
English speakers often try to translate it takes me with an impersonal il faut construction (il me faut vingt minutes), which works but sounds slightly stiffer than je mets.
5. Reflexive se mettre à + infinitive: to start
This is the most common way to express start doing something in conversational French. More vivid than commencer à.
Il s'est mis à pleuvoir juste au moment où on est sortis.
It started raining just as we went out.
Elle s'est mise à crier dès qu'elle a vu la souris.
She started screaming the moment she saw the mouse.
Je vais m'y mettre demain, c'est promis.
I'll get to it tomorrow, I promise.
6. Reflexive se mettre en + state
Constructions like se mettre en colère (get angry), se mettre en route (set off), se mettre en grève (go on strike). The reflexive plus en + noun is a productive pattern.
Il se met en colère pour rien.
He gets angry over nothing.
On s'est mis en route à l'aube.
We set off at dawn.
High-frequency idioms
These constructions are everywhere and worth memorizing as units.
- mettre la table — to set the table
- mettre au courant — to bring up to speed
- mettre fin à — to put an end to
- mettre l'accent sur — to emphasize
- mettre en place — to set up, to put in place
- mettre en cause — to call into question
- y mettre du sien — to do one's part
- mettre les pieds quelque part — to set foot somewhere (often negative)
- mettre à jour — to update
Je vais te mettre au courant de tout ce qui s'est passé.
I'll fill you in on everything that happened.
Le gouvernement a mis en place de nouvelles mesures sanitaires.
The government put new health measures in place.
The -mettre family
A whole family of high-frequency verbs is built on mettre. They all conjugate identically — same endings, same participle pattern (-mis), same compound-tense rules.
| Verb | Meaning | Past participle |
|---|---|---|
| admettre | to admit, accept | admis |
| commettre | to commit (a crime, an error) | commis |
| compromettre | to compromise | compromis |
| émettre | to emit, broadcast | émis |
| omettre | to omit | omis |
| permettre | to allow, permit | permis |
| promettre | to promise | promis |
| remettre | to put back, hand over, postpone | remis |
| soumettre | to submit | soumis |
| transmettre | to transmit, pass on | transmis |
If you can conjugate mettre, you can conjugate all of these without thinking. Memorize one paradigm; you get the whole family for free.
Je te promets que je n'oublierai pas.
I promise you I won't forget.
Il a admis qu'il avait tort.
He admitted that he was wrong.
Tu peux me transmettre son numéro ?
Can you pass on his number to me?
Comparison with English
English splits the semantic territory of mettre across many different verbs: put, place, put on, turn on, set, take (time), start (with reflexive). Three friction points worth flagging:
- Putting on vs wearing. Mettre is for the act of donning; porter is for the state of wearing. Je mets ma veste (I put on my jacket — happening now) ≠ je porte une veste (I'm wearing a jacket — already on).
- Turning on appliances. English turn on the TV is French mettre la télé. Beginners often try tourner sur, which is impossible.
- Taking time. English it takes me twenty minutes puts it as the subject; French je mets vingt minutes puts the person as the subject. The shift is grammatical, not just lexical.
Common Mistakes
Mistake 1: Using porter for the act of putting on.
❌ Je porte ma veste, on sort.
Wrong if you mean 'I'm putting it on now' — porter means 'wear' (state). Use mettre for the action.
✅ Je mets ma veste, on sort.
I'm putting on my jacket, we're going out.
Mistake 2: Translating English take time with the time as the subject.
❌ Ça met vingt minutes pour moi.
Wrong — French puts the person as the subject of mettre, not the time.
✅ Je mets vingt minutes pour aller au bureau.
It takes me twenty minutes to get to the office.
Mistake 3: Forgetting the singular consonant drop.
❌ Je metts mes clés sur la table.
Wrong — singular forms drop one t: je mets, tu mets, il met. Only the plural keeps double tt.
✅ Je mets mes clés sur la table.
I'm putting my keys on the table.
Mistake 4: Using commencer where se mettre à is more natural.
❌ Il a commencé à pleuvoir d'un coup.
Not wrong, but stiff — for the sudden onset of an action, conversational French strongly prefers se mettre à.
✅ Il s'est mis à pleuvoir d'un coup.
It suddenly started raining.
Mistake 5: Forgetting participle agreement with a preceding direct object.
❌ Tu as vu la robe que j'ai mis ?
Wrong — la robe (f.sg.) is the preceding direct object, so mis must agree as mise.
✅ Tu as vu la robe que j'ai mise ?
Did you see the dress I wore?
Key takeaways
Mettre is the catch-all verb for putting, placing, dressing, switching on, and taking time. The conjugation has a memorable consonant alternation: singular forms drop one t (je mets, tu mets, il met, all /mɛ/), plural forms restore the double t (nous mettons, vous mettez, ils mettent). The past participle is mis, with an audible feminine mise /miz/.
Six core uses: place an object (mets le livre sur la table), put on clothing (je mets une veste), turn on an appliance (mets la télé), take an amount of time (je mets vingt minutes), start an action reflexively (se mettre à pleuvoir), and enter a state (se mettre en colère).
The whole -mettre family — permettre, promettre, admettre, soumettre, transmettre, and a dozen more — conjugates identically. Master mettre and you have mastered all of them.
Now practice French
Reading grammar gets you part of the way. The exercises are where it sticks — free, no signup needed.
Start learning French→Related Topics
- Prendre: Full Verb ReferenceA1 — Prendre is to take — and the model verb for an entire family (apprendre, comprendre, surprendre, entreprendre, reprendre). It also covers a host of senses where English uses 'to have' (prendre un café, prendre le train) or other verbs entirely (prendre froid = catch cold; se prendre pour = think one is). This page is the full reference: every paradigm, every compound tense, the core uses, and the idioms.
- Permettre: Full Verb ReferenceA2 — Permettre is the verb to allow, permit — and it conjugates identically to mettre. Its signature construction is permettre à quelqu'un de + infinitif (allow someone to do something), and it triggers the subjunctive after permettre que. This page is the full reference: every paradigm, the core uses, the high-frequency idioms (vous permettez ?, ça me permet de…, se permettre de…), and the small but crucial syntactic traps.
- Promettre: Full Verb ReferenceA2 — Promettre is the verb to promise — and like its cousin permettre, it conjugates exactly like mettre. The signature construction is promettre à quelqu'un de + infinitif, but it also works as promettre quelque chose à quelqu'un and triggers the subjunctive after promettre que (in negative or interrogative contexts). This page is the full reference: every paradigm, the major uses, the high-frequency idioms (c'est promis, tu me le promets ?, ça promet…), and the reflexive se promettre.
- Admettre: Full Verb ReferenceB1 — Admettre is the verb to admit, accept, acknowledge — and one of the most polarity-sensitive verbs in French. In affirmative form, admettre que takes the indicative (the speaker accepts the proposition as fact). In interrogative or negative form, it takes the subjunctive (the speaker is questioning whether the proposition holds). The set phrase en admettant que also requires the subjunctive. Conjugates exactly like mettre. Past participle: admis.
- Le Présent: Mettre (to put, to place)A1 — The full conjugation of mettre, with its single-t / double-tt alternation across singular and plural, plus the high-frequency uses (mettre la table, mettre un manteau, se mettre à) and the family of -mettre verbs (permettre, promettre, admettre).
- Expressions avec MettreB1 — From setting the table to losing your temper to perfecting a recipe — the full inventory of French expressions with mettre and se mettre, including the productive 'mettre en + abstract noun' pattern.