Pleuvoir Conjugation French: The Complete Guide Across All Tenses

Mastering French verbs is an essential milestone for every language learner, but few verbs are as unique as pleuvoir (to rain). As an irregular third-group verb, pleuvoir is primarily an impersonal verb (verbe impersonnel or defective verb).

In everyday French, you will only ever conjugate it using the third-person singular dummy pronoun: « il » (equivalent to "it" in English). Let's explore everything you need to know about conjugating pleuvoir, its nuances, compound tenses, and figurative uses.

1. What Makes "Pleuvoir" an Impersonal Verb?

In English, when you say "It is raining," the word "it" does not refer to a person, an animal, or an object. It is a dummy pronoun. French functions identically: in the sentence « Il pleut », the subject pronoun « il » does not mean "he". It represents an abstract, impersonal subject.

Consequently, standard conjugations for je (I), tu (you), nous (we), and vous (you plural/formal) do not exist for pleuvoir when discussing the weather.

2. Complete Indicative Conjugation Table

The indicative mood (l'indicatif) is used to state objective facts and everyday observations. Below are the most common tenses of pleuvoir.

Simple Tenses

Compound Tenses

Tense French Form English Translation Example
:--- :--- :--- :---
Présent (Present) il pleut it is raining / it rains Regarde par la fenêtre, il pleut. (Look out the window, it's raining.)
Imparfait (Imperfect) il pleuvait it was raining / used to rain Il pleuvait quand nous sommes arrivés. (It was raining when we arrived.)
Futur Simple (Simple Future) il pleuvra it will rain Demain, il pleuvra sur toute la région. (Tomorrow, it will rain across the whole region.)
Passé Simple (Past Historic) il plut it rained (literary) Soudain, il plut à verse. (Suddenly, it poured.)

All compound tenses of pleuvoir use avoir as the auxiliary verb, paired with the invariant past participle plu.

  • Passé Composé: il a plu (it rained / it has rained)
  • Example: « Hier soir, il a plu pendant deux heures. » (Last night, it rained for two hours.)
  • Plus-que-parfait (Pluperfect): il avait plu (it had rained)
  • Example: « La terre était boueuse parce qu'il avait plu. » (The ground was muddy because it had rained.)
  • Futur Antérieur (Future Perfect): il aura plu (it will have rained)
  • Conditionnel Passé: il aurait plu (it would have rained)

> Grammar Note: The past participle plu is completely invariant. Never add an "e" or an "s" to it (no plue or plus in this context).

3. Subjunctive and Conditional Moods

Le Subjonctif

The subjunctive mood expresses necessity, doubt, emotion, or uncertainty, typically introduced by conjunctions such as il faut que or bien que.

  • Subjonctif Présent: qu'il pleuve
  • Example: « Il faut rentrer avant qu'il pleuve. » (We must head inside before it rains.)
  • Subjonctif Passé: qu'il ait plu
  • Example: « C'est dommage qu'il ait plu ce week-end. » (It's a pity that it rained this weekend.)

    • Le Conditionnel

The conditional mood expresses actions dependent on a condition or hypothetical scenarios.

  • Conditionnel Présent: il pleuvrait
  • Example: « Si le vent tournait, il pleuvrait sur la côte. » (If the wind shifted, it would rain on the coast.)
  • Conditionnel Passé: il aurait plu
  • Example: « Sans ce soleil inespéré, il aurait plu toute la journée. » (Without this unexpected sunshine, it would have rained all day.)

    • 4. Other Verb Forms (Participles & Infinitives)

  • Infinitive Present: pleuvoir (to rain)
  • Infinitive Past: avoir plu (to have rained)
  • Present Participle: pleuvant (raining)
  • Gerund: en pleuvant (while raining)
  • Past Participle: plu (rained)

Note on the Imperative: Because weather cannot be ordered around, pleuvoir has no true imperative form in natural usage.

5. The Plural Exception: Figurative Usage

Can pleuvoir ever be conjugated in the plural? Yes, in figurative or literary contexts.

When things fall abundantly or arrive in overwhelming numbers, native speakers use pleuvoir with a third-person plural subject (ils or elles):

  • « Les questions pleuvent lors de la conférence. » (Questions are raining down during the conference.)
  • « Les compliments ont plu sur l'artiste après le concert. » (Compliments showered upon the artist after the show.)
  • « Des projectiles pleuvaient de toutes parts. » (Projectiles were raining down from all sides.)

In these instances, pleuvoir agrees with the plural subject as an ordinary third-group verb.

6. Popular French Idioms Involving Rain

Understanding everyday weather idioms will make your French sound instantly more authentic:

1. Pleuvoir des cordes (literally: to rain ropes): To pour, to rain cats and dogs.

2. Pleuvoir à verse / à seaux (literally: to rain by bucketfuls): Torrential downpour.

3. Pleuvoir comme vache qui pisse (colloquial, literally: to rain like a pissing cow): Very common, informal way to describe heavy rain.

4. Faire la pluie et le beau temps (literally: to make the rain and good weather): To call the shots, to hold all the cards.

7. Common Learner Pitfall: "Plu" vs. "Plu"

Do not confuse the past participle of pleuvoir (plu) with the past participle of plaire (to please), which is also plu.

  • Il a plu. = It rained.
  • Ce film m'a plu. = I enjoyed this movie (literally: This movie pleased me).

By keeping the impersonal subject il in mind, you will effortlessly recognize whether a speaker is talking about the weather or sharing their personal taste!