inquiéter — French conjugation

to worry

Frequency#130IrregularReflexives'inquiéter — to worry oneself

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
jeinquièteI worry
tuinquiètesyou worry
il/elleinquiètehe/she/it worries
nousinquiétonswe worry
vousinquiétezyou (pl.) worry
ils/ellesinquiètentthey worry

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
jeinquiétaiI worried
tuinquiétasyou worried
il/elleinquiétahe/she/it worried
nousinquiétâmeswe worried
vousinquiétâtesyou (pl.) worried
ils/ellesinquiétèrentthey worried

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
jeinquiétais
tuinquiétais
il/elleinquiétait
nousinquiétions
vousinquiétiez
ils/ellesinquiétaient

Conditional (Conditionnel) Regular

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
jeinquiéteraisI would worry
tuinquiéteraisyou would worry
il/elleinquiéteraithe/she/it would worry
nousinquiéterionswe would worry
vousinquiéteriezyou (pl.) would worry
ils/ellesinquiéteraientthey would worry

Future (Futur) Regular

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
jeinquiéteraiI will worry
tuinquiéterasyou will worry
il/elleinquiéterahe/she/it will worry
nousinquiéteronswe will worry
vousinquiéterezyou (pl.) will worry
ils/ellesinquiéterontthey will worry

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 inquiétéI have worried
tutu as inquiétéyou have worried
il/elleil/elle a inquiétéhe/she/it has worried
nousnous avons inquiétéwe have worried
vousvous avez inquiétéyou (pl.) have worried
ils/ellesils/elles ont inquiététhey have worried

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 inquiétéI had worried
tutu avais inquiétéyou had worried
il/elleil/elle avait inquiétéhe/she/it had worried
nousnous avions inquiétéwe had worried
vousvous aviez inquiétéyou (pl.) had worried
ils/ellesils/elles avaient inquiététhey had worried

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 inquiété
tutu aurais inquiété
il/elleil/elle aurait inquiété
nousnous aurions inquiété
vousvous auriez inquiété
ils/ellesils/elles auraient inquiété

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 inquiétéI will have worried
tutu auras inquiétéyou will have worried
il/elleil/elle aura inquiétéhe/she/it will have worried
nousnous aurons inquiétéwe will have worried
vousvous aurez inquiétéyou (pl.) will have worried
ils/ellesils/elles auront inquiététhey will have worried

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
jeinquiète
tuinquiètes
il/elleinquiète
nousinquiétions
vousinquiétiez
ils/ellesinquiètent

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
jeinquiétasse
tuinquiétasses
il/elleinquiétât
nousinquiétassions
vousinquiétassiez
ils/ellesinquiétassent

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
tuinquiète
nousinquiétons
vousinquiétez