écrire
/e.kʁiʁ/
The French phrase for 'to write' is écrire.
When you want to express that you are writing to a specific person, you must use the preposition à after the verb, forming the phrase écrire à.
How does it change in a sentence?
The past participle of écrire is écrit, which translates to 'written'. If you are using the imperfect tense for the first or second person singular (to say 'was writing' or 'used to write'), the form is écrivais.
How do you pronounce it?
The pronunciation of écrire is /e.kʁiʁ/. It has 2 syllables.
Did you know?
- In French, the phrase écrire un mot literally means 'to write a word', but it is commonly used to mean 'to leave a short note'.
- In French literature, the concept of l'écriture is often discussed as a physical, almost biological part of an author's identity, much more so than the English concept of 'writing style'.
- The word écrire is the root of the English word 'scribe' and 'scribble'.
Examples in context
- Je veux écrire ceci.I want to write this down.This sentence is useful for showing how to express the desire to write something down using écrire.Tatoeba #2475391 by sacredceltic, translation #2012472 by CK
- Il me faut l'écrire.I need to write that down.This sentence is useful for expressing the necessity of writing something down using écrire.Tatoeba #3326807 by sacredceltic, translation #2387778 by CK
- Je veux écrire à Tom.I want to write to Tom.This sentence is useful for demonstrating how to use the preposition à when writing to a person using écrire.Tatoeba #5289095 by Aiji, translation #5193597 by CK
- Je dois écrire une lettre formelle à mon chef.I need to write a formal letter to my boss.
- Notre équipe doit rédiger un rapport détaillé sur le projet.Our team needs to write a detailed report about the project.
- Je dois écrire un e-mail à mon pote.I have to write an email to my friend.
- Je dois écrire une lettre formelle à l'entreprise, mais je veux aussi écrire un e-mail décontracté à mon ami.I need to write a formal letter to the company, but I also want to write a casual email to my friend.
- 310 more sentences on Tatoeba
Example conversation
Chloé and Lucas are in a cafe working on their laptops.
- ChloéTu vas écrire un article ?Are you going to write an article?
- LucasOui, je dois écrire un rapport.Yes, I have to write a report.
- ChloéC'est difficile d'écrire aujourd'hui ?Is it difficult to write today?
- LucasNon, mais je suis fatigué.No, but I am tired.
Sources
- Pronunciation: Wiktionary entry écrire, CC BY-SA 4.0, dump of 2026-09-26.
- Word origins: Wiktionary entries écrire, CC BY-SA 4.0.
- Example sentences: Tatoeba CC BY 2.0 FR.
