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 worry.”
Present Présent
Habits, current states, and actions happening now.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | inquiète | I worry | |
| tu | inquiètes | you worry | |
| il / elle / on | inquiète | he / she / it worrieson: we worry / one worries | |
| nous | inquiétons | we worry | |
| vous | inquiétez | you worry | |
| ils / elles | inquiètent | they worry |
IN A SENTENCEPresent example
Ce retard inquiète les voyageurs.
This delay worries the travellers.
Passé composé
Completed past events, using avoir or être plus a past participle.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | ai inquiété | I worried | |
| tu | as inquiété | you worried | |
| il / elle / on | a inquiété | he / she / it worriedon: we worried / one worried | |
| nous | avons inquiété | we worried | |
| vous | avez inquiété | you worried | |
| ils / elles | ont inquiété | they worried |
IN A SENTENCEPassé composé example
Hier, ce retard a inquiété les voyageurs.
Yesterday, this delay worried the travellers.
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’ | inquiétais | I used to worry | |
| tu | inquiétais | you used to worry | |
| il / elle / on | inquiétait | he / she / it used to worryon: we used to worry / one used to worry | |
| nous | inquiétions | we used to worry | |
| vous | inquiétiez | you used to worry | |
| ils / elles | inquiétaient | they used to worry |
IN A SENTENCEImperfect example
Autrefois, ce retard inquiétait les voyageurs.
Back then, this delay used to worry the travellers.
Future Futur simple
Future events and predictions.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | inquièterai / inquiéterai | I will worry | |
| tu | inquièteras / inquiéteras | you will worry | |
| il / elle / on | inquiètera / inquiétera | he / she / it will worryon: we will worry / one will worry | |
| nous | inquièterons / inquiéterons | we will worry | |
| vous | inquièterez / inquiéterez | you will worry | |
| ils / elles | inquièteront / inquiéteront | they will worry |
IN A SENTENCEFuture example
Plus tard, ce retard inquiètera les voyageurs.
Later, this delay will worry the travellers.
Conditional Conditionnel présent
Hypothetical events and polite requests.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | inquièterais / inquiéterais | I would worry | |
| tu | inquièterais / inquiéterais | you would worry | |
| il / elle / on | inquièterait / inquiéterait | he / she / it would worryon: we would worry / one would worry | |
| nous | inquièterions / inquiéterions | we would worry | |
| vous | inquièteriez / inquiéteriez | you would worry | |
| ils / elles | inquièteraient / inquiéteraient | they would worry |
IN A SENTENCEConditional example
Ce retard inquièterait les voyageurs.
This delay would worry the travellers.
Present subjunctive Subjonctif présent
Dependent clauses expressing wishes, necessity, doubt, and certain feelings.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | inquiète | (that) I worry | |
| tu | inquiètes | (that) you worry | |
| il / elle / on | inquiète | (that) he / she / it worrieson: (that) we worry / one worries | |
| nous | inquiétions | (that) we worry | |
| vous | inquiétiez | (that) you worry | |
| ils / elles | inquiètent | (that) they worry |
IN A SENTENCEPresent subjunctive example
Il est possible que ce retard inquiète les voyageurs.
It is possible that this delay worries the travellers.
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 worry
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