pocher — French conjugation

to poach

Frequency#252Regular

Indicative

Present (Présent) Regular

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
jepocheI poach
tupochesyou poach
il/ellepochehe/she/it poaches
nouspochonswe poach
vouspochezyou (pl.) poach
ils/ellespochentthey poach

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
jepochaiI poached
tupochasyou poached
il/ellepochahe/she/it poached
nouspochâmeswe poached
vouspochâtesyou (pl.) poached
ils/ellespochèrentthey poached

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
jepochais
tupochais
il/ellepochait
nouspochions
vouspochiez
ils/ellespochaient

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
jepocheraisI would poach
tupocheraisyou would poach
il/ellepocheraithe/she/it would poach
nouspocherionswe would poach
vouspocheriezyou (pl.) would poach
ils/ellespocheraientthey would poach

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
jepocheraiI will poach
tupocherasyou will poach
il/ellepocherahe/she/it will poach
nouspocheronswe will poach
vouspocherezyou (pl.) will poach
ils/ellespocherontthey will poach

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 pochéI have poached
tutu as pochéyou have poached
il/elleil/elle a pochéhe/she/it has poached
nousnous avons pochéwe have poached
vousvous avez pochéyou (pl.) have poached
ils/ellesils/elles ont pochéthey have poached

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 pochéI had poached
tutu avais pochéyou had poached
il/elleil/elle avait pochéhe/she/it had poached
nousnous avions pochéwe had poached
vousvous aviez pochéyou (pl.) had poached
ils/ellesils/elles avaient pochéthey had poached

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

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 pochéI will have poached
tutu auras pochéyou will have poached
il/elleil/elle aura pochéhe/she/it will have poached
nousnous aurons pochéwe will have poached
vousvous aurez pochéyou (pl.) will have poached
ils/ellesils/elles auront pochéthey will have poached

Subjunctive

Present subjunctive (Subjonctif présent) Regular

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
jepoche
tupoches
il/ellepoche
nouspochions
vouspochiez
ils/ellespochent

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
jepochasse
tupochasses
il/ellepochât
nouspochassions
vouspochassiez
ils/ellespochassent

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
tupoche
nouspochons
vouspochez