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Verb drill

Remplir and vider: fill, empty and practise the French forms

Edited by Chris Lee · Updated · About the library

Fill a jug, empty a bag and fill in a form. Study the present-tense patterns for remplir and vider, then complete ten short drill sentences.

In short

Remplir means to fill a container or fill in a form; vider means to empty a container. Keep the container as the object: je remplis la carafe d’eau, then je vide la carafe. In the present, remplir follows finir and vider follows a regular -er pattern.

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An adult fills a clear water jug at a French kitchen sink, wide simple view.
Remplir la carafe makes the container the object. Illustration: Atelier

What goes in, what comes out?

Study first: present tense
Subjectremplirvider
jeremplisvide
turemplisvides
il / elle / onremplitvide
nousremplissonsvidons
vousremplissezvidez
ils / ellesremplissentvident
Action or state?
FrenchEnglishNotice
Je remplis la boîte.I’m filling the box.the action
La boîte est pleine.The box is full.feminine pleine
Je vide le sac.I’m emptying the bag.the action
Le sac est vide.The bag is empty.singular vide
Les boîtes sont vides.The boxes are empty.plural vides

Je remplis le formulaire avec mon nom et mon adresse.

I fill in the form with my name and address.

In British English, use “fill in” for a form. French keeps the same verb: remplir.

In remplir une carafe d’eau, the jug receives the water. In vider un sac sur la table, the bag’s contents come out onto the table. The bag remains. You can also vider une poubelle (empty a bin) or vider un tiroir (empty a drawer).

Complete ten present-tense sentences

Type only the missing verb form. The subject and infinitive tell you which form to build; the rest of the sentence tells you what is being filled or emptied. Watch the -iss- in the plural forms of remplir.

1 · Containers and their contents

  1. Je la carafe d’eau. (remplir)
  2. Tu ton sac sur la table. (vider)
  3. Elle la boîte de crayons. (remplir)
  4. Nous les cartons. (vider)
  5. Vous les bouteilles. (remplir)
  6. Ils les tiroirs. (vider)

2 · A form, a basket and a bin

  1. Nous le formulaire ensemble. (remplir)
  2. Elles le panier de pommes. (remplir)
  3. Je la poubelle. (vider)
  4. Vous la boîte avant de la ranger. (vider)

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