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 search for.”
Present Présent
Habits, current states, and actions happening now.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | recherche | I search for | |
| tu | recherches | you search for | |
| il / elle / on | recherche | he / she / it searches foron: we search for / one searches for | |
| nous | recherchons | we search for | |
| vous | recherchez | you search for | |
| ils / elles | recherchent | they search for |
IN A SENTENCEPresent example
Paul recherche ses clés dans son sac.
Paul searches for his keys in his bag.
Passé composé
Completed past events, using avoir or être plus a past participle.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | ai recherché | I searched for | |
| tu | as recherché | you searched for | |
| il / elle / on | a recherché | he / she / it searched foron: we searched for / one searched for | |
| nous | avons recherché | we searched for | |
| vous | avez recherché | you searched for | |
| ils / elles | ont recherché | they searched for |
IN A SENTENCEPassé composé example
Hier, Paul a recherché ses clés dans son sac.
Yesterday, Paul searched for his keys in his bag.
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’ | recherchais | I used to search for | |
| tu | recherchais | you used to search for | |
| il / elle / on | recherchait | he / she / it used to search foron: we used to search for / one used to search for | |
| nous | recherchions | we used to search for | |
| vous | recherchiez | you used to search for | |
| ils / elles | recherchaient | they used to search for |
IN A SENTENCEImperfect example
Autrefois, Paul recherchait ses clés dans son sac.
Back then, Paul used to search for his keys in his bag.
Future Futur simple
Future events and predictions.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | rechercherai | I will search for | |
| tu | rechercheras | you will search for | |
| il / elle / on | recherchera | he / she / it will search foron: we will search for / one will search for | |
| nous | rechercherons | we will search for | |
| vous | rechercherez | you will search for | |
| ils / elles | rechercheront | they will search for |
IN A SENTENCEFuture example
Plus tard, Paul recherchera ses clés dans son sac.
Later, Paul will search for his keys in his bag.
Conditional Conditionnel présent
Hypothetical events and polite requests.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | rechercherais | I would search for | |
| tu | rechercherais | you would search for | |
| il / elle / on | rechercherait | he / she / it would search foron: we would search for / one would search for | |
| nous | rechercherions | we would search for | |
| vous | rechercheriez | you would search for | |
| ils / elles | rechercheraient | they would search for |
IN A SENTENCEConditional example
Paul rechercherait ses clés dans son sac.
Paul would search for his keys in his bag.
Present subjunctive Subjonctif présent
Dependent clauses expressing wishes, necessity, doubt, and certain feelings.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | recherche | (that) I search for | |
| tu | recherches | (that) you search for | |
| il / elle / on | recherche | (that) he / she / it searches foron: (that) we search for / one searches for | |
| nous | recherchions | (that) we search for | |
| vous | recherchiez | (that) you search for | |
| ils / elles | recherchent | (that) they search for |
IN A SENTENCEPresent subjunctive example
Il est possible que Paul recherche ses clés dans son sac.
It is possible that Paul searches for his keys in his bag.
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 search for, seek, to look for
- to search again, to look for again
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