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 harass.”
Present Présent
Habits, current states, and actions happening now.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | harcelle / harcèle | I harass | |
| tu | harcelles / harcèles | you harass | |
| il / elle / on | harcelle / harcèle | he / she / it harasseson: we harass / one harasses | |
| nous | harcelons | we harass | |
| vous | harcelez | you harass | |
| ils / elles | harcellent / harcèlent | they harass |
IN A SENTENCEPresent example
Le voisin harcelle Paul au téléphone.
The neighbor harasses Paul on the phone.
Passé composé
Completed past events, using avoir or être plus a past participle.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | ai harcelé | I harassed | |
| tu | as harcelé | you harassed | |
| il / elle / on | a harcelé | he / she / it harassedon: we harassed / one harassed | |
| nous | avons harcelé | we harassed | |
| vous | avez harcelé | you harassed | |
| ils / elles | ont harcelé | they harassed |
IN A SENTENCEPassé composé example
Hier, le voisin a harcelé Paul au téléphone.
Yesterday, the neighbor harassed Paul on the phone.
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’ | harcelais | I used to harass | |
| tu | harcelais | you used to harass | |
| il / elle / on | harcelait | he / she / it used to harasson: we used to harass / one used to harass | |
| nous | harcelions | we used to harass | |
| vous | harceliez | you used to harass | |
| ils / elles | harcelaient | they used to harass |
IN A SENTENCEImperfect example
Autrefois, le voisin harcelait Paul au téléphone.
Back then, the neighbor used to harass Paul on the phone.
Future Futur simple
Future events and predictions.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | harcellerai / harcèlerai | I will harass | |
| tu | harcelleras / harcèleras | you will harass | |
| il / elle / on | harcellera / harcèlera | he / she / it will harasson: we will harass / one will harass | |
| nous | harcellerons / harcèlerons | we will harass | |
| vous | harcellerez / harcèlerez | you will harass | |
| ils / elles | harcelleront / harcèleront | they will harass |
IN A SENTENCEFuture example
Plus tard, le voisin harcellera Paul au téléphone.
Later, the neighbor will harass Paul on the phone.
Conditional Conditionnel présent
Hypothetical events and polite requests.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | harcellerais / harcèlerais | I would harass | |
| tu | harcellerais / harcèlerais | you would harass | |
| il / elle / on | harcellerait / harcèlerait | he / she / it would harasson: we would harass / one would harass | |
| nous | harcellerions / harcèlerions | we would harass | |
| vous | harcelleriez / harcèleriez | you would harass | |
| ils / elles | harcelleraient / harcèleraient | they would harass |
IN A SENTENCEConditional example
Le voisin harcellerait Paul au téléphone.
The neighbor would harass Paul on the phone.
Present subjunctive Subjonctif présent
Dependent clauses expressing wishes, necessity, doubt, and certain feelings.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | harcelle / harcèle | (that) I harass | |
| tu | harcelles / harcèles | (that) you harass | |
| il / elle / on | harcelle / harcèle | (that) he / she / it harasseson: (that) we harass / one harasses | |
| nous | harcelions | (that) we harass | |
| vous | harceliez | (that) you harass | |
| ils / elles | harcellent / harcèlent | (that) they harass |
IN A SENTENCEPresent subjunctive example
Il est possible que le voisin harcelle Paul au téléphone.
It is possible that the neighbor harasses Paul on the phone.
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 hassle; to bother; to disrupt; to harass
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