How to Conjugate the French Verb Rendre

The literal meaning of rendre (pronounced ren-dre) is to return, but it also often means to restore, to give in, or to yield. This French verb can function as a pronominal verb se rendre, too. In addition, rendre is frequently used in idiomatic expressions such as to give thanks to, to pay homage to, to make someone feel something, and many others. Dont worry about memorizing the multitude of its uses right away. The tables below wont only show you how to conjugate this regular -RE verb in present, past, and other tenses, but they will also give you examples of its usage. Just remember, when you see rendre, think beyond the literal. Present Indicative Je rends Je me rends alors à   l'à ©vidence. I surrender to the evidence. Tu rends Tu ne te rends pas compte de son importance. You don't realize its importance. Il/Elle/On rend Elle me rend heureux. She makes me happy. Nous rendons Nous vous rendons attentif au fait que vous devez renouveler votre inscription ce mois-ci. We are bringing to your attention that you need to renew your subscription this month. Vous rendez Quand est-ce que vous vousrendez en province? When are you coming to the countryside? Ils/Elles rendent Ilsrendent hommage auSuprà ªme Leader. They pay homage to the Supreme Leader. Compound Past Indicative The passà © composà © is a past tense that can be translated as the simple past or the present perfect. For the verb rendre, it is formed with the auxiliary verb avoir and the past participle rendu, but remember that as with all pronominal verbs, when rendre changes into se rendre, its auxiliary verb becomes à ªtre. J' ai rendu Je me suis rendue coupable du plus grand de tous les crimes. I (female) committed the worst of all crimes. Tu as rendu Tuas rendu de grands services à  la France. You have rendered great services to France. Il/Elle/On a rendu Paris s'est rendu. Paris capitulated. Nous avons rendu Nous avons rendu visite au prà ©sident. Wepaid a visit to the president. Vous avez rendu Vous vous à ªtes rendus utiles aux peuples. You have made yourselves useful to the people. Ils/Elles ont rendu Il se sont rendus. They surrendered. Imperfect Indicative The imperfect tense is another form of a past tense, but it is used to talk about ongoing or repeated actions in the past. Limparfait can be translated to English as was returning/making or used to return/make, although it can sometimes also be translated as the simple returned or made, or any other appropriate meaning that rendre can take on, depending on the context. Je rendais Je te rendais l'invitation. I was returning you the invitation. Tu rendais Tu me rendais responsable de cette gestion. You were making me responsible for that administration. Il/Elle/On rendait Ellerendait visite à  son grand-pà ¨re. She would visit her grandfather. Nous rendions Nous vous rendions cet article dà ©fectueux. We were returning you this defective item. Vous rendiez Vous me rendiez trop de monnaie. You were giving me too much change back. Ils/Elles rendaient Les gongs rendaient un son grave. The gongs were making a low sound. Simple Future Indicative To talk about the future in English, in most cases we simply add the modal verb will. In French, however, the future tense is formed by adding different endings to the infinitive.  In the case of rendre, the base we add endings to is rendr-. Je rendrai Jerendrai ce pays ingouvernable. I will make this country ungovernable. Tu rendras Turendras un bel hommageà   ta soeur comme à §a. You will pay a nice tribute to your sister like this. Il/Elle/On rendra Ilrendra tà ©moignage en ma faveur. He will testify in my favor. Nous rendrons Nous nous rendrons au travail à   pied. We will walk to work. Vous rendrez Vousrendrez serviceà   tout le monde si vous commencezà   vous aimer. You will do everyone a favor if you start liking yourself. Ils/Elles rendront Elles se rendront disponibles. They will make themselves available. Near Future Indicative Another form of a future tense is the near future, the futur proche, which is the equivalent of the English going to verb. In French, the near future is formed with the present tense conjugation of the verb aller (to go) the infinitive (rendre). Je vais rendre Ne voulant pas faire mauvaise impression, jevais m'y rendre. Since I don't wish to give the wrong impression, I will go and do it. Tu vas rendre Arrà ªtede manger. Tuvas te rendre malade. Stop eating. You're going to make yourself sick. Il/Elle/On va rendre Elleva le rendrelà ©gal. She is going to make it legal. Nous allons rendre Nousallons rendre le foot plus spectaculaire. We are going to make soccer more spectacular. Vous allez rendre Vousallez rendre des comptes sur l'utilisation de cet argent. You are going to be fully accountable for this money. Ils/Elles vont rendre Ellesvont rendre unedà ©cision ferme. They are going to come forward with a firm decision. Conditional The conditional mood in French is equivalent to the English would verb. Notice that the endings it adds to the infinitive are very similar to those in the imperfect indicative. Je rendrais Je rendrais visiteà   ma mà ¨re, si elle ne vivait pas si loin. I would visit my mother if she didn't live so far. Tu rendrais Tu rendrais confuse toute cette question, si tu faisais à §a. You would blur the whole issue if you did that. Il/Elle/On rendrait Ellerendrait davantage public ces plans si c'à ©tait possible. She would make these plans more available to the public if it was possible. Nous rendrions Si on pouvait, nous rendrions un bel hommageà   cet ancien dà ©putà ©. If we could, we would pay a nice tribute to this former member. Vous rendriez Vous rendriez tout cela plus cohà ©rent si vous nous donniez plus de dà ©tails. You would make all of this clearer if you gave us more details. Ils/Elles rendraient Ils rendraient leurs recherches plus accessibles, mais ils ne peuvent pas. They would make their research more accessible, but they are not allowed to. Present Subjunctive The subjunctive mood conjugation of rendre, which comes in after the expression que person, looks very much like the present indicative and past imperfect. Que je rende Il est important que je rende les nuances de ses pensà ©es proprement. It is important that I render the nuances of his thoughts properly. Que tu rendes Je veux que tu te rendes compte des effets de tes actions. I want you to realize the consequences of your actions. Qu'il/elle/on rende Il faut qu'elle rende des comptes. She needs to be held accountable. Que nous rendions Elle dà ©sire que nous rendions ledà ©veloppementdurable. She wishes that we make the development sustainable. Que vous rendiez Il est temps que vous rendiez cet à ©conomie encore plus forte. It is time for you to make the economy even stronger. Qu'ils/elles rendent On propose qu'elles rendent leur opinion sur ce sujet maintenant. We suggest that they give their opinion on this issue now. Imperative The imperative mood is used to give commands, both positive and negative. They have the same verb form, but the negative commands include ne...pas, ne...plus, or ne...jamais around the verb. Positive Commands Tu rends! Rends-toi compte de ce que tu fait! Realize what you're doing! Nous rendons! Rendons-le heureux! Let's make him happy! Vous rendez! Rendez votre jugement maintenant! Deliver your verdict now! Negative Commands Tu ne rends pas! Ne leur rends pas ton avis! Don't give them your opinion! Nous ne rendons pas! Ne nous-y rendons pas! Let's not go there! Vous ne rendez pas! Ne leur rendez pas service! Don't help them! Present Participle/Gerund One of the uses of the present participle is to form the gerund (usually preceded by the preposition en), which can be used to talk about simultaneous actions. Present Participle/Gerund of Rendre rendant En me rendant au musà ©e ce matin, j'ai rencontrà © Margot. On my way to the museum this morning, I met Margot.