Voir ("to see") is the primary verb of visual perception in French and a member of an irregular family that pattern with the -oi-/-oy- stem alternation. It covers what English splits between see (sensory registration), meet/visit (in social contexts: je vois mes amis ce soir), and the colloquial discourse marker I see / you know (tu vois ?). It also functions as a perception verb that takes an infinitive complement (je vois Marie sortir — "I see Marie leaving"), a construction that English handles with the gerund.
This page covers the full present paradigm with its distinctive -y- in the 1pl/2pl/3pl forms, walks through the major uses, and carefully distinguishes voir from three closely related verbs that English speakers persistently confuse: regarder (active looking), savoir (knowing facts and how-to), and connaître (being acquainted with people and places).
The full paradigm
| Person | Form | Pronunciation | Translation |
|---|---|---|---|
| je | vois | /ʒə vwa/ | I see |
| tu | vois | /ty vwa/ | you see (informal) |
| il / elle / on | voit | /il vwa / ɛl vwa / ɔ̃ vwa/ | he/she/one sees |
| nous | voyons | /nu vwajɔ̃/ | we see |
| vous | voyez | /vu vwaje/ | you see (formal or plural) |
| ils / elles | voient | /il vwa / ɛl vwa/ | they see |
Je vois la mer depuis la fenêtre de ma chambre.
I can see the sea from my bedroom window.
Tu vois ce panneau au coin de la rue ? C'est juste à côté.
See that sign at the corner of the street? It's right next to it.
Mes voisins voient toujours les défauts des autres mais jamais les leurs.
My neighbors always see other people's faults but never their own.
The -oi- / -oy- stem alternation
Voir shows the typical -oir verb alternation between two stems:
- vo-i- in singular and 3pl: je vois, tu vois, il voit, ils voient
- vo-y- in 1pl and 2pl: nous voyons, vous voyez
The alternation is driven by what follows the stem. Before a silent e (or in the singular forms ending in -s, -t), the stem ends in -i. Before a pronounced vowel (the -ons, -ez endings), the i turns into a y and triggers a glide /j/ in pronunciation: /vwajɔ̃/, /vwaje/.
This same -i-/-y- alternation governs other -oir verbs and a few -oyer verbs:
- croire — je crois, nous croyons
- prévoir — je prévois, nous prévoyons
- envoyer — j'envoie, nous envoyons (a 1er-groupe verb that follows the same orthographic logic)
Nous voyons des choses différentes dans cette photo, c'est intéressant.
We see different things in this photo, it's interesting.
Vous voyez cette grande maison rouge ? C'est là que j'ai grandi.
See that big red house? That's where I grew up.
The voir family
A small family of verbs prefixed from voir follow the same conjugation:
| Verb | Meaning |
|---|---|
| voir | to see |
| revoir | to see again |
| prévoir | to foresee / plan / forecast |
| entrevoir | to glimpse / to catch a glimpse of |
| pourvoir | to provide / to supply (formal — slight conjugation differences in future/conditional) |
The fixed phrase au revoir — literally "at the seeing again" — is the most common goodbye in French.
On se revoit la semaine prochaine, alors ?
So we'll see each other next week, then?
La météo prévoit des orages pour ce week-end.
The forecast predicts storms for this weekend.
Use 1: Visual perception — the eye registers
The core meaning of voir is for visual information that crosses your visual field — the passive sense of see, where you do not have to make any effort:
D'ici, on voit toute la vallée.
From here, you can see the whole valley.
Il faisait tellement noir qu'on ne voyait rien.
It was so dark that we couldn't see anything.
Je n'ai pas vu ton sac, tu l'as cherché dans la voiture ?
I haven't seen your bag — have you looked for it in the car?
This contrasts with regarder (covered below), which is for active looking — turning your eyes deliberately toward something to inspect it. The distinction maps cleanly onto English see vs look at, but learners often default to one verb when the other is required.
Use 2: Meeting / spending time with someone
In social contexts, voir often means "to meet up with" or "to spend time with" — particularly with friends, family, doctors, or in the context of dating:
Je vois mes parents tous les dimanches.
I see my parents every Sunday.
Tu vois quelqu'un en ce moment ?
Are you seeing someone at the moment? (i.e., dating)
Il faut que je voie le médecin avant la fin du mois.
I need to see the doctor before the end of the month.
This is not the same as visiter (to visit a place — a museum, a city) or rendre visite à (to pay a visit to a person, formal). Voir is the everyday verb for getting together with someone.
Use 3: Understanding — colloquial "see"
In conversation, tu vois and vous voyez function as discourse markers — interjections like English you see, you know what I mean:
C'est compliqué, tu vois, je ne sais pas vraiment quoi décider.
It's complicated, you see — I don't really know what to decide.
Tu vois ce que je veux dire ?
Do you see what I mean?
Ah oui, je vois !
Oh, I see!
The simple je vois as an acknowledgment ("I get it / I see") is one of the most common conversational signals in French.
Use 4: Voir + infinitive — perception with an embedded action
Voir is a perception verb, which means it can take another verb in the infinitive as its complement, with the perceived person or thing as the agent of that infinitive:
- Je vois Marie sortir. — I see Marie leaving / I see Marie leave.
- Nous voyons les enfants jouer dans le jardin. — We see the children playing in the garden.
This is one of the most distinctive constructions in French syntax. English allows two patterns — the bare infinitive (I see Marie leave) or the gerund (I see Marie leaving) — but French uses only the infinitive. Saying /je vois Marie sortant is ungrammatical; the present participle is not used here.
J'ai vu ton frère traverser la rue tout à l'heure.
I saw your brother crossing the street earlier.
On entend les oiseaux chanter au lever du soleil.
You can hear the birds singing at sunrise.
The same construction works with entendre (hear), sentir (feel/smell), écouter (listen), and regarder (watch). Word order is flexible: je vois Marie sortir and je vois sortir Marie are both grammatical, with slight differences in emphasis.
When a pronoun replaces the perceived noun, it goes before voir:
Je la vois sortir tous les matins à huit heures.
I see her leave every morning at eight.
For more on this construction, see Verbs of Perception with Infinitive.
Common phrases and idioms
Voir generates a set of high-frequency phrases that you will hear constantly:
| Phrase | Meaning |
|---|---|
| au revoir | goodbye |
| on verra | we'll see |
| voyons ! | come on! / let's see now |
| à voir | worth seeing / to be seen |
| voir le jour | to come into existence (literally "to see the day") |
| n'avoir rien à voir avec | to have nothing to do with |
| se faire voir | to show oneself (also vulgar — "get lost") |
| voir grand | to think big |
| voir clair | to see clearly / to see through |
| il faut voir | we'll have to see |
— Tu viens à la fête samedi ? — On verra, je te dirai vendredi.
— Are you coming to the party Saturday? — We'll see, I'll let you know Friday.
Voyons, ce n'est pas si grave que ça !
Come on now, it's not that serious!
Cette histoire n'a rien à voir avec moi, je n'étais même pas là.
That story has nothing to do with me — I wasn't even there.
Voir vs regarder — passive vs active
The distinction between voir and regarder is one of the most consistently confused pairs for English-speaking learners. The rule is sharp:
- Voir = visual perception happens to you. The eye registers.
- Regarder = you direct your eyes. Active looking.
| French | English |
|---|---|
| Je vois la télé depuis le canapé. | I can see the TV from the couch. (it's in my line of sight) |
| Je regarde la télé. | I'm watching TV. (deliberately viewing) |
| J'ai vu un film hier. | I saw a film yesterday. (passing exposure) |
| J'ai regardé un film hier. | I watched a film yesterday. (deliberate viewing) |
| Tu vois ce panneau ? | Do you see that sign? (is it in your visual field?) |
| Regarde ce panneau. | Look at that sign. (turn your eyes toward it) |
A useful test: if you can substitute "look at" or "watch" in English without changing the meaning, French wants regarder. If "see" is the right word, French wants voir.
The same active/passive distinction applies in the auditory domain:
- Entendre = hearing (passive). J'entends un bruit.
- Écouter = listening (active). J'écoute la radio.
For more, see Voir vs Regarder.
Voir vs savoir vs connaître — three different "knows"
Voir (literally "see") is sometimes used in colloquial French as a near-synonym for "understand" (tu vois ? = "you see/get it?"). But this is not a synonym for the cognition verbs savoir and connaître — those are separate verbs you also need to know. A quick orientation:
| Verb | What it covers | Sample |
|---|---|---|
| voir | visual perception, meeting, colloquial "I see / you see" | Je vois la mer. / Je vois mes amis. |
| savoir | knowing facts, knowing how to do something | Je sais qu'il habite ici. / Je sais nager. |
| connaître | being acquainted with people, places, works | Je connais Paris. / Je connais Marie. |
A common English-speaker mistake is to use voir for "I see" in the cognitive sense ("I see the answer = I know the answer"). In that case, French wants savoir: je sais la réponse.
Je sais que tu es fatigué, mais on doit finir ce projet.
I know you're tired, but we need to finish this project.
Tu connais ce restaurant rue de Rivoli ? Il paraît qu'il est excellent.
Do you know that restaurant on rue de Rivoli? Apparently it's excellent.
The savoir/connaître contrast itself is delicate: savoir takes facts and how-to (je sais que..., je sais + infinitive), while connaître takes a noun referring to a person, place, or work (je connais Marie, je connais Paris, je connais cette chanson). Trying to use connaître with a que-clause is wrong (je connais que is ungrammatical), and trying to use savoir with a person is wrong (je sais Marie is ungrammatical). For the full treatment, see Savoir vs Connaître.
Common Mistakes
Mistake 1: Using voir where regarder is needed.
❌ Je vois la télé tous les soirs.
Incorrect for 'watch TV' — that requires regarder, the active-looking verb.
✅ Je regarde la télé tous les soirs.
I watch TV every night.
Mistake 2: Using a participle instead of an infinitive after voir.
❌ Je vois Marie sortant de la maison.
Incorrect — perception verbs in French take an infinitive, not a present participle.
✅ Je vois Marie sortir de la maison.
I see Marie leaving the house.
This is one of the most consistent English-speaker mistakes. English allows "I see Marie leaving"; French allows only the infinitive: je vois Marie sortir.
Mistake 3: Using voir for "I know" in the cognitive sense.
❌ Je vois la réponse maintenant.
In the sense of 'I now know the answer,' French uses savoir, not voir.
✅ Je sais la réponse maintenant.
I know the answer now.
(Je vois is fine as a discourse signal — "I see what you mean" — but it does not mean "I know" the way English I see sometimes does in academic contexts.)
Mistake 4: Forgetting the y in 1pl/2pl forms.
❌ Nous voions / vous voiez.
Incorrect — the i changes to y before -ons and -ez to mark the glide /j/.
✅ Nous voyons / vous voyez.
We see / you see.
Mistake 5: Using voir for "visit" (a place).
❌ Je vois Paris l'année prochaine.
Incorrect for 'visit Paris' — the verb is visiter (place) or rendre visite à (person).
✅ Je visite Paris l'année prochaine.
I'm visiting Paris next year.
(However, voir is correct for meeting up with people: je vois mes amis demain — "I'm seeing my friends tomorrow.")
Mistake 6: Confusing voir with connaître for places.
❌ Je vois bien cette rue, on y est allés ensemble.
Incorrect for 'I know this street well' — that's connaître, not voir.
✅ Je connais bien cette rue, on y est allés ensemble.
I know this street well — we went there together.
Key takeaways
Voir is the verb of visual perception, social meeting, and colloquial acknowledgment. Its conjugation features the -i-/-y- alternation typical of -oir verbs (je vois, nous voyons, ils voient), and it serves as the model for revoir, prévoir, entrevoir. The most important contrasts to internalize: voir (passive perception) vs regarder (active looking); voir (visual) vs savoir (factual knowledge) vs connaître (acquaintance with people and places). The perception-verb construction voir + infinitive is one of the most distinctive structures in French — and a place where English speakers' default of using a gerund (seeing Marie leaving) needs to be retrained to use the infinitive (voir Marie sortir).
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Start learning French→Related Topics
- Le Présent: Savoir (to know)A1 — The full paradigm of savoir, the French verb for knowing facts, knowing how to do something, and possessing information — and the crucial line that separates it from connaître.
- Le Présent: Connaître (to know / be familiar with)A1 — The full paradigm of connaître, the French verb for being acquainted with people, places, and works — including the famous circumflex on il connaît, and the entire -aître family that conjugates the same way.
- Savoir vs ConnaîtreA1 — Both translate as 'to know,' but savoir handles facts and skills while connaître handles familiarity with people, places, and things.
- Voir vs RegarderA2 — Both translate as see or watch, but voir is passive perception (something enters your visual field) while regarder is active looking (you direct your eyes deliberately). Picking the wrong one is the kind of error that immediately marks a learner — and the imperative forms voilà and tenez carry traces of this same distinction.
- The Three Conjugation Groups: -er, -ir, -reA1 — How French verbs sort into the 1er, 2e, and 3e groupes — and why one group has 90% of the verbs and another is everything that doesn't fit.
- Le Présent: Verbes Réguliers en -erA1 — The full paradigm for regular 1er-groupe verbs in the present indicative — endings -e, -es, -e, -ons, -ez, -ent, the four-way homophony of singular and ils forms, and the high-frequency verbs you need first.