How to use and conjugate the French verb "recevoir"

Recevoir means “to receive” in French. But like many commonly used verbs, it has a few different shades of meaning.

Let’s learn more about recevoir!

Recevoir conjugation

Recevoir is an irregular verb, which means you’ll have to memorize its conjugations.

Because the “c” in recevoir must always sound like an “s”, you will need to add a cedilla whenever it’s followed by a letter that isn’t “i” or “e”.

A small consolation is that recevoir is conjugated with avoir in compound tenses, so you don’t have to agree the participle and the subject in a standard sentence. 

Here’s how to conjugate recevoir in the most common French verb tenses:

Present simple	Passé Composé	Imparfait
je reçois	j’ai reçu	je recevais
tu reçois	tu as reçu	tu recevais
il/elle/on reçoit	il/elle/on a reçu	il/elle/on recevait
nous recevons	nous avons reçu	nous recevions
vous recevez	vous avez reçu	vous receviez
ils/elles reçoivent	ils/elles ont reçu	ils/elles recevaient

Future	Conditional	Subjunctive
je recevrai	je recevrais	que je reçoive
tu recevras	tu recevrais	que tu reçoives
il/elle/on recevra	il/elle/on recevrait	qu’ il/elle/on reçoive
nous recevrons	nous recevrions	que nous recevions
vous recevrez	vous recevriez	que vous receviez
ils/elles recevront	ils/elles recevraient	qu’ils/elles reçoivent

Imperative

Reçois (tu)

Recevons (nous)

Recevez (vous)

Less common recevoir conjugations

Here’s how to conjugate recevoir in tenses you’ll see and use less often.

Plus-que-parfait	Passé simple	Passé antérieur
j’avais reçu	je reçus	j’eus reçu
tu avais reçu	tu reçus	tu eus reçu
il/elle/on avait reçu	il/elle/on reçut	il/elle/on eut reçu
nous avions reçu	nous reçûmes	nous eûmes reçu
vous aviez reçu	vous reçûtes	vous eûtes reçu
ils/elles avaient reçu	ils/elles reçurent	ils/elles eurent reçu

Futur antérieur	Futur proche
j’aurai reçu	je vais recevoir
tu auras reçu	tu vas recevoir
il/elle/on aura reçu	il/elle/on va recevoir
nous aurons reçu	nous allons recevoir
vous aurez reçu	vous allez recevoir
ils/elles auront reçu	ils/elles vont recevoir

Conditionnel du passé

je aurais reçu

tu aurais reçu

il/elle/on aurait reçu

nous aurions reçu

vous auriez reçu

ils/elles auraient reçu

Passé du subjonctif	Imparfait du subjonctif	Plus-que-parfait du subjonctif
j’aie reçu	je reçusse	je eusse reçu
tu aies reçu	tu reçusses	tu eusses reçu
il/elle/on ait reçu	il/elle/on reçut	il/elle/on eût reçu
nous ayons reçu	nous ayons reçussions	nous eussions reçu
vous ayez reçu	vous ayez reçussiez	vous eussiez reçu
ils/elles aient reçu	ils/elles reçussent	ils/elles eussent reçu

What does recevoir mean?

Voici un colis que j’aimerais recevoir ! (Here’s a package I’d like to receive!)

Recevoir means “to receive” or “to get”.

For instance:

Il a reçu un super cadeau pour son anniversaire. (He got an awesome present for his birthday.)

Vous recevrez le colis d’ici la fin de la semaine. (You’ll receive the package sometime between now  and the end of the week.)

Les membres des Boy Bands reçoivent des milliers de messages de leurs fans chaque jour. (Members of Boy Bands receive thousands of messages from their fans every day.)

But, as in English, this seemingly straightforward word has some subtle shades of meaning.

For example, recevoir can sometimes be used in a formal sense to mean “to receive (i.e. welcome/host) guests/clients”.

For instance:

Ils reçoivent souvent des invités. (They often receive (welcome/host) guests.)

Le docteur Dupont ne reçoit pas aujourd’hui. (Dr. Dupont isn’t seeing patients today.)

Another way recevoir can be used, as in English, is how someone takes news or an idea. For instance:

Sa critique a été mal reçue par le groupe. (Her critique was taken badly by the group.)

Note that this usage is rarer in French than it is in English.

Still another shade of meaning for recevoir is “to take a hit” or be on the receiving end of a violent act. This makes sense in a way and could even be understood in English. “I received a punch to the stomach” wouldn’t be the ordinary, everyday sentence you’d use, but it’s still understandable.  In French, it’s common to say something like:

Il a reçu un coup de poing (He took a punch/He got punched/He got a punch/He was punched).

La victime a reçu dix coups de couteau. (The victim was stabbed ten times. (Literally: The victim received ten knife wounds.)

A very specific use of recevoir is in radio communications, including walkie-talkies. If you watch French action or spy films, you’ll probably come across these two phrases:

Bien reçu - Copy that

recevoir quelqu’un 5 sur 5: Five by five (to hear someone loud and clear) - Je te reçois 5 sur 5.

These are the most common meanings and uses of recevoir, but you can find a few more, as well as additional examples and explanations, in Wiktionnaire’s excellent recevoir entry.    

The more you read and listen to French, the more comfortable you’ll become with recevoir’s different shades of meaning.  And if one of them doesn’t sit right with you, there are usually other ways to express the same idea. For instance, while I would understand the phrase Le docteur Dupont ne re ç oit pas aujourd’hui, I would probably say something like Le docteur Dupont n’est pas disponible aujourd’hui (Dr. Dupont isn’t available today) instead.

The important thing is to at least recognize recevoir’s less common uses.

Variants of recevoir

There are two major variants of recevoir that you’ll often come across in French:

reçu(e) - The participle of recevoir is often used as an adjective, as well. It can additionally be a noun - un reçu is one way to say “a receipt” in French.

Note that when reçu is used as an adjective or in certain grammatical structures, it will agree with the noun it’s modifying. If that’s feminine, it will take an “e” at the end.

_ réception _: In addition to being a cognate for the word “reception” (party/gathering) in English, this word can also mean “receiving” and is often used in formal or professional correspondance.

Probably the most common phrase you’ll come across that uses reception in this sense is: un accus é  de réception (delivery receipt/acknowledgement of receipt). You can find some other phrases and examples with réception here.  

Common phrases and expressions with recevoir

Here are some phrases with recevoir that you’ll likely come across in French:

_ bien recevoir _ - to kindly accept. You’ll usually see this phrase in formal or professional correspondance.

Example: Merci de bien recevoir cette lettre et les documents ci-joints. (Kindly accept this letter and the enclosed documents.)

bien reçu(e)/mal reçu(e) (par) - to be well/badly received/taken (perceived). Note that these phrases are almost always followed by the preposition par.

Example: Le film a été très mal reçu par le public. (The film was poorly received by the general public./The general public didn’t like the film.)

_ recevoir des visiteurs  - to receive visitors (a formal way to say “to have guests over”. A less formal alternative is _avoir de la visite)

_ Il vaut mieux donner que recevoir. _ - It is better to give than to receive.

_ une idée reçue _ - a cliche, stereotype, common misconception.

Example: L’habitude des Français à manger régulièrement des cuisses de grenouilles est une idée reçue. (The French regularly eating frogs’ legs is a stereotype.)  

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Have you used recevoir or one of its variants or expressions before? Feel free to share in the comments!