French verb chercher

The tables below show the conjugation of the French verb chercher in the various simple and compound tenses.

See below for notes on the conjugation of chercher

Present

Perfect

je cherche
tu cherches
il/elle cherche
nous cherchons
vous cherchez
ils/elles cherchent

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j' ai cherché
tu as cherché
il/elle a cherché
nous avons cherché
vous avez cherché
ils/elles ont cherché

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Imperfect

Pluperfect

je cherchais
tu cherchais
il/elle cherchait
nous cherchions
vous cherchiez
ils/elles cherchaient

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j' avais cherché
tu avais cherché
il/elle avait cherché
nous avions cherché
vous aviez cherché
ils/elles avaient cherché

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Future

Future-perfect

je chercherai
tu chercheras
il/elle cherchera
nous chercherons
vous chercherez
ils/elles chercheront

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j' aurai cherché
tu auras cherché
il/elle aura cherché
nous aurons cherché
vous aurez cherché
ils/elles auront cherché

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Conditional

Conditional perfect

je chercherais
tu chercherais
il/elle chercherait
nous chercherions
vous chercheriez
ils/elles chercheraient

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j' aurais cherché
tu aurais cherché
il/elle aurait cherché
nous aurions cherché
vous auriez cherché
ils/elles auraient cherché

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Present subjunctive

Perfect subjunctive

je cherche
tu cherches
il/elle cherche
nous cherchions
vous cherchiez
ils/elles cherchent

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j' aie cherché
tu aies cherché
il/elle ait cherché
nous ayons cherché
vous ayez cherché
ils/elles aient cherché

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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.

Check out our reviews of the following French conjugation guides: Barron's 501 French Verbs Bescherelle La Conjugaison pour tous