harceler — French conjugation

to harass

Frequency#1807Irregular

Indicative

Present (Présent) Irregular

Use the présent for habits, what is true now, and what is about to happen soon. A single set of endings covers what English often splits into “I speak” and “I am speaking”.

Elle parle arabe et français.

PronounFrenchEnglish
jeharcelleI harass
tuharcellesyou harass
il/elleharcellehe/she/it harasses
nousharcelonswe harass
vousharcelezyou (pl.) harass
ils/ellesharcellentthey harass

Simple past (Passé simple) Regular

The passé simple narrates completed past events in a literary or very formal style. In everyday conversation people use the passé composé instead, so you mostly meet this form in books and journalism.

Ils virent le roi s'approcher.

PronounFrenchEnglish
jeharcelaiI harassed
tuharcelasyou harassed
il/elleharcelahe/she/it harassed
nousharcelâmeswe harassed
vousharcelâtesyou (pl.) harassed
ils/ellesharcelèrentthey harassed

Imperfect (Imparfait) Regular

The imparfait describes ongoing or repeated past actions and sets the background — how things were, what used to happen, weather, feelings. The passé composé, by contrast, marks single completed events.

Quand j'étais petit, j'allais souvent à la piscine.

PronounFrench
jeharcelais
tuharcelais
il/elleharcelait
nousharcelions
vousharceliez
ils/ellesharcelaient

Conditional (Conditionnel) Irregular

The conditionnel is for polite questions and requests, “would”-type hypotheticals, and what someone said would happen. It is also the usual consequent clause in si + imparfait → conditionnel patterns.

Pourriez-vous répéter, s'il vous plaît ?

PronounFrenchEnglish
jeharcelleraisI would harass
tuharcelleraisyou would harass
il/elleharcelleraithe/she/it would harass
nousharcellerionswe would harass
vousharcelleriezyou (pl.) would harass
ils/ellesharcelleraientthey would harass

Future (Futur) Irregular

The futur is for future plans and objective predictions. In speech, aller + infinitive is often clearer for the immediate future, while the simple future is common for facts further ahead or in writing.

Demain, nous dînerons chez eux.

PronounFrenchEnglish
jeharcelleraiI will harass
tuharcellerasyou will harass
il/elleharcellerahe/she/it will harass
nousharcelleronswe will harass
vousharcellerezyou (pl.) will harass
ils/ellesharcellerontthey will harass

Present perfect (Passé composé) Regular

The passé composé is the main spoken past for completed, bounded actions (often with a time adverb). Use avoir with most verbs; être is required for a fixed group of motion/inchange and all pronominal verbs, with participle agreement when necessary.

Elle est venue tôt, puis elle a téléphoné.

PronounFrenchEnglish
jej'ai harceléI have harassed
tutu as harceléyou have harassed
il/elleil/elle a harceléhe/she/it has harassed
nousnous avons harceléwe have harassed
vousvous avez harceléyou (pl.) have harassed
ils/ellesils/elles ont harceléthey have harassed

Pluperfect (Plus-que-parfait) Regular

The plus-que-parfait is the “earlier past”: one action was already over before another past moment. It answers “had already” when a story is anchored in a past time.

Déjà, il avait fini quand je suis arrivé.

PronounFrenchEnglish
jej'avais harceléI had harassed
tutu avais harceléyou had harassed
il/elleil/elle avait harceléhe/she/it had harassed
nousnous avions harceléwe had harassed
vousvous aviez harceléyou (pl.) had harassed
ils/ellesils/elles avaient harceléthey had harassed

Conditional perfect (Conditionnel passé) Regular

The conditionnel passé states what would have been true, plans that failed, and unreal past if-clauses (often with si + plus-que-parfait in the apodose).

J'aurais dit oui, mais c'était impossible.

PronounFrench
jej'aurais harcelé
tutu aurais harcelé
il/elleil/elle aurait harcelé
nousnous aurions harcelé
vousvous auriez harcelé
ils/ellesils/elles auraient harcelé

Future perfect (Futur antérieur) Regular

The futur antérieur marks an action that will be finished before a later future moment (by then I will have…). It can also suggest a conjecture about a recent past fact in formal or literary use.

D'ici samedi, j'aurai lu le rapport.

PronounFrenchEnglish
jej'aurai harceléI will have harassed
tutu auras harceléyou will have harassed
il/elleil/elle aura harceléhe/she/it will have harassed
nousnous aurons harceléwe will have harassed
vousvous aurez harceléyou (pl.) will have harassed
ils/ellesils/elles auront harceléthey will have harassed

Subjunctive

Present subjunctive (Subjonctif présent) Irregular

The present subjunctive appears in subordinate clauses after desire, doubt, fear, need, and many impersonals, usually when the subject of the subordinate is different. Learn common triggers: il faut que, je veux que, je doute que…

Il faut qu'il parte avant midi.

PronounFrench
jeharcelle
tuharcelles
il/elleharcelle
nousharcelions
vousharceliez
ils/ellesharcellent

Imperfect subjunctive (Subjonctif imparfait) Regular

The imparfait du subjonctif is a literary and formal past subjunctive. In modern speech, the present subjunctive usually replaces it for the same meaning.

Bien qu'il fût fatigué, il continua.

PronounFrench
jeharcelasse
tuharcelasses
il/elleharcelât
nousharcelassions
vousharcelassiez
ils/ellesharcelassent

Other forms

Imperative (Impératif) Regular

The imperative is for direct orders and advice to tu, nous, and vous. For many -er verbs, the tu form drops the final -s of the present (parle!); negatives use the subjunctive-like forms in practice.

Fermons la porte, s'il vous plaît !

PronounFrench
tuharcelle
nousharcelons
vousharcelez