conduire
/kɔ̃.dɥiʁ/
To drive in French is conduire.
The verb conduire is used to mean operating a wheeled motorized vehicle. When you want to express the idea of driving someone to a specific location, you use the construction conduire [personne] [quelque part].
Meaning: to operate (a wheeled motorized vehicle) (verb)
Which one should you use?
While conduire means to drive a vehicle, it is also used to mean 'to lead' or 'to guide' someone or something. In a formal context, the verb manœuvrer can be used to convey the specific action of maneuvering or operating a vehicle.
Related words
How does it change in a sentence?
conduire is a regular '-re' verb in the present tense. For example, the third person plural form is conduisent.
How do you pronounce it?
The word has two syllables and is pronounced /kɔ̃.dɥiʁ/.
What mistakes should you avoid?
English speakers often mistakenly use rouler to mean 'to drive a car'. However, rouler actually means 'to roll' or 'to travel/move' (for example, describing the fact that the car is moving).
Did you know?
- The French word for 'conduct', as in behaving oneself, is also se conduire. This comes from the same root as conduire and reflects the idea of leading oneself through life.
- In French, you can conduire a person to a place without any vehicle at all. In this context, it means to escort or guide them on foot.
- The verb conduire is often used in electrical contexts to describe how a material 'conducts' electricity, just like the English word 'conduct'.
Examples in context
- Qui va conduire ?Who's going to drive?This sentence is useful for asking who will be the driver using conduire.Tatoeba #3259948 by Julien_PDC, translation #3259949 by CK
- Je peux te conduire.I can drive you.This sentence is useful for offering to drive someone using conduire.Tatoeba #4247360 by mouche, translation #3728969 by CM
- Je sais déjà conduire.I already know how to drive.This sentence is useful for stating a known ability to drive using conduire.Tatoeba #2355022 by Amastan, translation #2291628 by CK
- Je conduis une voiture.I drive a car.
- Il sait bien conduire.He knows how to drive well.
- Elle sait parfaitement manœuvrer une voiture.She knows how to perfectly maneuver a car.
- J'aime conduire les voitures de sport.I enjoy driving sports cars.
- Je peux conduire ta moto ?Can I ride/drive your motorbike?
- 359 more sentences on Tatoeba
Example conversation
Manon and Lucas are deciding how to get to the party.
- ManonTu veux conduire ce soir, Lucas ?Do you want to drive tonight, Lucas?
- LucasNon, je préfère prendre le bus.No, I prefer to take the bus.
- ManonD'accord, je peux conduire alors.Okay, I can drive then.
- LucasC'est parfait, merci Manon !That's perfect, thanks Manon!
Sources
- Wiktionary, “drive” translations and entries conduire, CC BY-SA 4.0, dump of 2026-09-26.
- Example sentences: Tatoeba CC BY 2.0 FR.
