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’ | préoccupe | I worry | |
| tu | préoccupes | you worry | |
| il / elle / on | préoccupe | he / she / it worrieson: we worry / one worries | |
| nous | préoccupons | we worry | |
| vous | préoccupez | you worry | |
| ils / elles | préoccupent | they worry |
IN A SENTENCEPresent example
Le retard du train préoccupe Paul.
The train's delay worries Paul.
Passé composé
Completed past events, using avoir or être plus a past participle.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | ai préoccupé | I worried | |
| tu | as préoccupé | you worried | |
| il / elle / on | a préoccupé | he / she / it worriedon: we worried / one worried | |
| nous | avons préoccupé | we worried | |
| vous | avez préoccupé | you worried | |
| ils / elles | ont préoccupé | they worried |
IN A SENTENCEPassé composé example
Hier, le retard du train a préoccupé Paul.
Yesterday, the train's delay worried 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’ | préoccupais | I used to worry | |
| tu | préoccupais | you used to worry | |
| il / elle / on | préoccupait | he / she / it used to worryon: we used to worry / one used to worry | |
| nous | préoccupions | we used to worry | |
| vous | préoccupiez | you used to worry | |
| ils / elles | préoccupaient | they used to worry |
IN A SENTENCEImperfect example
Autrefois, le retard du train préoccupait Paul.
Back then, the train's delay used to worry Paul.
Future Futur simple
Future events and predictions.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | préoccuperai | I will worry | |
| tu | préoccuperas | you will worry | |
| il / elle / on | préoccupera | he / she / it will worryon: we will worry / one will worry | |
| nous | préoccuperons | we will worry | |
| vous | préoccuperez | you will worry | |
| ils / elles | préoccuperont | they will worry |
IN A SENTENCEFuture example
Plus tard, le retard du train préoccupera Paul.
Later, the train's delay will worry Paul.
Conditional Conditionnel présent
Hypothetical events and polite requests.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | préoccuperais | I would worry | |
| tu | préoccuperais | you would worry | |
| il / elle / on | préoccuperait | he / she / it would worryon: we would worry / one would worry | |
| nous | préoccuperions | we would worry | |
| vous | préoccuperiez | you would worry | |
| ils / elles | préoccuperaient | they would worry |
IN A SENTENCEConditional example
Le retard du train préoccuperait Paul.
The train's delay would worry Paul.
Present subjunctive Subjonctif présent
Dependent clauses expressing wishes, necessity, doubt, and certain feelings.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | préoccupe | (that) I worry | |
| tu | préoccupes | (that) you worry | |
| il / elle / on | préoccupe | (that) he / she / it worrieson: (that) we worry / one worries | |
| nous | préoccupions | (that) we worry | |
| vous | préoccupiez | (that) you worry | |
| ils / elles | préoccupent | (that) they worry |
IN A SENTENCEPresent subjunctive example
Il est possible que le retard du train préoccupe Paul.
It is possible that the train's delay worries 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 concern, preoccupy
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