Conjugations
All six tenses and their examples are shown below. Use the links above to jump to a tense. English translations use the meaning “to bother.”
Present Présent
Habits, current states, and actions happening now.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | embête | I bother | |
| tu | embêtes | you bother | |
| il / elle / on | embête | he / she / it botherson: we bother / one bothers | |
| nous | embêtons | we bother | |
| vous | embêtez | you bother | |
| ils / elles | embêtent | they bother |
IN A SENTENCEPresent example
Le bruit embête Paul au travail.
The noise bothers Paul at work.
Passé composé
Completed past events, using avoir or être plus a past participle.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | ai embêté | I bothered | |
| tu | as embêté | you bothered | |
| il / elle / on | a embêté | he / she / it botheredon: we bothered / one bothered | |
| nous | avons embêté | we bothered | |
| vous | avez embêté | you bothered | |
| ils / elles | ont embêté | they bothered |
IN A SENTENCEPassé composé example
Hier, le bruit a embêté Paul au travail.
Yesterday, the noise bothered Paul at work.
The passé composé uses avoir. The table shows the unmarked participle; agreement with a preceding direct object is outside this reference.
Back to tense navigation ↑Imperfect Imparfait
Past habits, descriptions, and actions in progress.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | embêtais | I used to bother | |
| tu | embêtais | you used to bother | |
| il / elle / on | embêtait | he / she / it used to botheron: we used to bother / one used to bother | |
| nous | embêtions | we used to bother | |
| vous | embêtiez | you used to bother | |
| ils / elles | embêtaient | they used to bother |
IN A SENTENCEImperfect example
Autrefois, le bruit embêtait Paul au travail.
Back then, the noise used to bother Paul at work.
Future Futur simple
Future events and predictions.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | embêterai | I will bother | |
| tu | embêteras | you will bother | |
| il / elle / on | embêtera | he / she / it will botheron: we will bother / one will bother | |
| nous | embêterons | we will bother | |
| vous | embêterez | you will bother | |
| ils / elles | embêteront | they will bother |
IN A SENTENCEFuture example
Plus tard, le bruit embêtera Paul au travail.
Later, the noise will bother Paul at work.
Conditional Conditionnel présent
Hypothetical events and polite requests.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | embêterais | I would bother | |
| tu | embêterais | you would bother | |
| il / elle / on | embêterait | he / she / it would botheron: we would bother / one would bother | |
| nous | embêterions | we would bother | |
| vous | embêteriez | you would bother | |
| ils / elles | embêteraient | they would bother |
IN A SENTENCEConditional example
Le bruit embêterait Paul au travail.
The noise would bother Paul at work.
Present subjunctive Subjonctif présent
Dependent clauses expressing wishes, necessity, doubt, and certain feelings.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | embête | (that) I bother | |
| tu | embêtes | (that) you bother | |
| il / elle / on | embête | (that) he / she / it botherson: (that) we bother / one bothers | |
| nous | embêtions | (that) we bother | |
| vous | embêtiez | (that) you bother | |
| ils / elles | embêtent | (that) they bother |
IN A SENTENCEPresent subjunctive example
Il est possible que le bruit embête Paul au travail.
It is possible that the noise bothers Paul at work.
French forms omit the subject. Use j’ before a vowel sound. Vous is polite singular or plural “you”; on often means “we,” or the general “one.” English wording depends on the context: passé composé can also use “have,” and the imperfect can describe an ongoing action. Subjunctive translations here follow “it is possible that.”
Meaning & usage
- to bug, bother, annoy
- to pick on someone
English glosses are a starting point. The meaning of a verb can change with context, a preposition, or se. Read the full dictionary entry ↗
Meanings and simple conjugation forms adapted from English Wiktionary contributors via Kaikki.org / Wiktextract. Passé composé forms combine the source auxiliary and past participle. Frequency scores from wordfreq 3.1.1 by Robyn Speer and contributors. Adapted data is available under CC BY-SA 4.0. Entry source · Sources, download & limitations