rattraper: conjugation and meaning · How to Learn French

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 catch up with.”

Present Présent

Habits, current states, and actions happening now.

rattraper: Present, with English translations
Subject	French	English
je / j’	rattrape	I catch up with
tu	rattrapes	you catch up with
il / elle / on	rattrape	he / she / it catches up withon: we catch up with / one catches up with
nous	rattrapons	we catch up with
vous	rattrapez	you catch up with
ils / elles	rattrapent	they catch up with

IN A SENTENCEPresent example

Paul rattrape son ami près de la gare.

Paul catches up with his friend near the station.

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Passé composé

Completed past events, using avoir or être plus a past participle.

rattraper: Passé composé, with English translations
Subject	French	English
je / j’	ai rattrapé	I caught up with
tu	as rattrapé	you caught up with
il / elle / on	a rattrapé	he / she / it caught up withon: we caught up with / one caught up with
nous	avons rattrapé	we caught up with
vous	avez rattrapé	you caught up with
ils / elles	ont rattrapé	they caught up with

IN A SENTENCEPassé composé example

Hier, Paul a rattrapé son ami près de la gare.

Yesterday, Paul caught up with his friend near the station.

The passé composé uses avoir. The table shows the unmarked participle; agreement with a preceding direct object is outside this reference.

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Imperfect Imparfait

Past habits, descriptions, and actions in progress.

rattraper: Imperfect, with English translations
Subject	French	English
je / j’	rattrapais	I used to catch up with
tu	rattrapais	you used to catch up with
il / elle / on	rattrapait	he / she / it used to catch up withon: we used to catch up with / one used to catch up with
nous	rattrapions	we used to catch up with
vous	rattrapiez	you used to catch up with
ils / elles	rattrapaient	they used to catch up with

IN A SENTENCEImperfect example

Autrefois, Paul rattrapait son ami près de la gare.

Back then, Paul used to catch up with his friend near the station.

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Future Futur simple

Future events and predictions.

rattraper: Future, with English translations
Subject	French	English
je / j’	rattraperai	I will catch up with
tu	rattraperas	you will catch up with
il / elle / on	rattrapera	he / she / it will catch up withon: we will catch up with / one will catch up with
nous	rattraperons	we will catch up with
vous	rattraperez	you will catch up with
ils / elles	rattraperont	they will catch up with

IN A SENTENCEFuture example

Plus tard, Paul rattrapera son ami près de la gare.

Later, Paul will catch up with his friend near the station.

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Conditional Conditionnel présent

Hypothetical events and polite requests.

rattraper: Conditional, with English translations
Subject	French	English
je / j’	rattraperais	I would catch up with
tu	rattraperais	you would catch up with
il / elle / on	rattraperait	he / she / it would catch up withon: we would catch up with / one would catch up with
nous	rattraperions	we would catch up with
vous	rattraperiez	you would catch up with
ils / elles	rattraperaient	they would catch up with

IN A SENTENCEConditional example

Paul rattraperait son ami près de la gare.

Paul would catch up with his friend near the station.

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Present subjunctive Subjonctif présent

Dependent clauses expressing wishes, necessity, doubt, and certain feelings.

rattraper: Present subjunctive, with English translations
Subject	French	English
je / j’	rattrape	(that) I catch up with
tu	rattrapes	(that) you catch up with
il / elle / on	rattrape	(that) he / she / it catches up withon: (that) we catch up with / one catches up with
nous	rattrapions	(that) we catch up with
vous	rattrapiez	(that) you catch up with
ils / elles	rattrapent	(that) they catch up with

IN A SENTENCEPresent subjunctive example

Il est possible que Paul rattrape son ami près de la gare.

It is possible that Paul catches up with his friend near the station.

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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 get back (something which is lost)
to catch up (with) (arrive at the same level as)
to catch (e.g. an elevator)

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