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 annoy.”
Present Présent
Habits, current states, and actions happening now.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | énerve | I annoy | |
| tu | énerves | you annoy | |
| il / elle / on | énerve | he / she / it annoyson: we annoy / one annoys | |
| nous | énervons | we annoy | |
| vous | énervez | you annoy | |
| ils / elles | énervent | they annoy |
IN A SENTENCEPresent example
Le bruit énerve Paul.
The noise annoys Paul.
Passé composé
Completed past events, using avoir or être plus a past participle.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | ai énervé | I annoyed | |
| tu | as énervé | you annoyed | |
| il / elle / on | a énervé | he / she / it annoyedon: we annoyed / one annoyed | |
| nous | avons énervé | we annoyed | |
| vous | avez énervé | you annoyed | |
| ils / elles | ont énervé | they annoyed |
IN A SENTENCEPassé composé example
Hier, le bruit a énervé Paul.
Yesterday, the noise annoyed Paul.
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’ | énervais | I used to annoy | |
| tu | énervais | you used to annoy | |
| il / elle / on | énervait | he / she / it used to annoyon: we used to annoy / one used to annoy | |
| nous | énervions | we used to annoy | |
| vous | énerviez | you used to annoy | |
| ils / elles | énervaient | they used to annoy |
IN A SENTENCEImperfect example
Autrefois, le bruit énervait Paul.
Back then, the noise used to annoy Paul.
Future Futur simple
Future events and predictions.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | énerverai | I will annoy | |
| tu | énerveras | you will annoy | |
| il / elle / on | énervera | he / she / it will annoyon: we will annoy / one will annoy | |
| nous | énerverons | we will annoy | |
| vous | énerverez | you will annoy | |
| ils / elles | énerveront | they will annoy |
IN A SENTENCEFuture example
Plus tard, le bruit énervera Paul.
Later, the noise will annoy Paul.
Conditional Conditionnel présent
Hypothetical events and polite requests.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | énerverais | I would annoy | |
| tu | énerverais | you would annoy | |
| il / elle / on | énerverait | he / she / it would annoyon: we would annoy / one would annoy | |
| nous | énerverions | we would annoy | |
| vous | énerveriez | you would annoy | |
| ils / elles | énerveraient | they would annoy |
IN A SENTENCEConditional example
Le bruit énerverait Paul.
The noise would annoy Paul.
Present subjunctive Subjonctif présent
Dependent clauses expressing wishes, necessity, doubt, and certain feelings.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | énerve | (that) I annoy | |
| tu | énerves | (that) you annoy | |
| il / elle / on | énerve | (that) he / she / it annoyson: (that) we annoy / one annoys | |
| nous | énervions | (that) we annoy | |
| vous | énerviez | (that) you annoy | |
| ils / elles | énervent | (that) they annoy |
IN A SENTENCEPresent subjunctive example
Il est possible que le bruit énerve Paul.
It is possible that the noise annoys Paul.
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 vex, to get on one's nerves
- to unnerve, to make nervous
- to be excited
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