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chercher: Conjugation

The chercher conjugation tables below show how to form the French verb chercher according to tense and person. To listen to the pronunciation of a given tense of chercher, click on the loudspeaker icon at the bottom of the table. See the notes on the conjugation of chercher at the end of this page.

Present	Perfect
je cherche tu cherches il/elle cherche nous cherchons vous cherchez ils/elles cherchent Pronounce these verb forms	j' ai cherché tu as cherché il/elle a cherché nous avons cherché vous avez cherché ils/elles ont cherché Pronounce these verb forms
Imperfect	Pluperfect
je cherchais tu cherchais il/elle cherchait nous cherchions vous cherchiez ils/elles cherchaient Pronounce these verb forms	j' avais cherché tu avais cherché il/elle avait cherché nous avions cherché vous aviez cherché ils/elles avaient cherché Pronounce these verb forms
Future	Future-perfect
je chercherai tu chercheras il/elle cherchera nous chercherons vous chercherez ils/elles chercheront Pronounce these verb forms	j' aurai cherché tu auras cherché il/elle aura cherché nous aurons cherché vous aurez cherché ils/elles auront cherché Pronounce these verb forms
Conditional	Conditional perfect
je chercherais tu chercherais il/elle chercherait nous chercherions vous chercheriez ils/elles chercheraient Pronounce these verb forms	j' aurais cherché tu aurais cherché il/elle aurait cherché nous aurions cherché vous auriez cherché ils/elles auraient cherché Pronounce these verb forms
Present subjunctive	Perfect subjunctive
je cherche tu cherches il/elle cherche nous cherchions vous cherchiez ils/elles cherchent Pronounce these verb forms	j' aie cherché tu aies cherché il/elle ait cherché nous ayons cherché vous ayez cherché ils/elles aient cherché Pronounce these verb forms
Past historic	Past anterior
je cherchai tu cherchas il/elle chercha nous cherchâmes vous cherchâtes ils/elles cherchèrent Pronounce these verb forms	j' eus cherché tu eus cherché il/elle eut cherché nous eûmes cherché vous eûtes cherché ils/elles eurent cherché Pronounce these verb forms

This verb follows the so-called regular -er verb pattern, the pattern followed by vast majority of verbs of the language, and by practically all new verbs entering the language.

The regular -er pattern has the following defining features:

• No characteristic consonant (contrast, for example, with verbs following the finir or dormir patterns, which have a characteristic -ss- and -m- in all forms but the present tense singular);
• No vowel change in the stem, other than where necessary to respect general patterns of French phonology (e.g. see préférer)²;
• Past participle in -é¹.

1. Outside the regular -er paradigm, only aller, être and naître have past participles ending in -é.
2. Many other verb patterns, except verbs of the finir type plus a few other patterns, have an irregular vowel change, e.g. boire > je bois vs nous buvons. See the grammar section on irregular verb patterns in French for a list of the different vowel changes.