chercher
French
Etymology
Inherited from Middle French chercher, cercher, altered from Old French cerchier through assimilation, from Late Latin circāre, from Latin circa, circus.
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /ʃɛʁ.ʃe/
audio (file)
Verb
chercher
- (transitive) to look for, to seek
- Je cherche du boulot.
- I'm looking for some work.
- (intransitive, followed by à) to look (to do something)
- Chercher à expliquer ce phénomène.
- Look to explain this phenomenon.
- (transitive, slang) to mess with someone, ask for trouble
- Tu me cherches ou quoi?
- Are you messing with me or what?
- (transitive) to pick up, to go and get
- (takes a reflexive pronoun, reflexive) to get to know oneself
- 2018, Zaz, Nos vies:
- On est l’homme qui se cherche et la femme qui se trouve. Dans le cœur, un amour qui fait qu’on se retrouve.
- (please add an English translation of this quotation)
- (takes a reflexive pronoun, reciprocal) to seek for each other
Conjugation
Conjugation of chercher (see also Appendix:French verbs)
| infinitive | simple | chercher | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| compound | avoir + past participle | ||||||
| present participle or gerund1 | simple | cherchant /ʃɛʁ.ʃɑ̃/ | |||||
| compound | ayant + past participle | ||||||
| past participle | cherché /ʃɛʁ.ʃe/ | ||||||
| singular | plural | ||||||
| first | second | third | first | second | third | ||
| indicative | je (j’) | tu | il, elle, on | nous | vous | ils, elles | |
| (simple tenses) |
present | cherche /ʃɛʁʃ/ |
cherches /ʃɛʁʃ/ |
cherche /ʃɛʁʃ/ |
cherchons /ʃɛʁ.ʃɔ̃/ |
cherchez /ʃɛʁ.ʃe/ |
cherchent /ʃɛʁʃ/ |
| imperfect | cherchais /ʃɛʁ.ʃɛ/ |
cherchais /ʃɛʁ.ʃɛ/ |
cherchait /ʃɛʁ.ʃɛ/ |
cherchions /ʃɛʁ.ʃjɔ̃/ |
cherchiez /ʃɛʁ.ʃje/ |
cherchaient /ʃɛʁ.ʃɛ/ | |
| past historic2 | cherchai /ʃɛʁ.ʃe/ |
cherchas /ʃɛʁ.ʃa/ |
chercha /ʃɛʁ.ʃa/ |
cherchâmes /ʃɛʁ.ʃam/ |
cherchâtes /ʃɛʁ.ʃat/ |
cherchèrent /ʃɛʁ.ʃɛʁ/ | |
| future | chercherai /ʃɛʁ.ʃə.ʁe/ |
chercheras /ʃɛʁ.ʃə.ʁa/ |
cherchera /ʃɛʁ.ʃə.ʁa/ |
chercherons /ʃɛʁ.ʃə.ʁɔ̃/ |
chercherez /ʃɛʁ.ʃə.ʁe/ |
chercheront /ʃɛʁ.ʃə.ʁɔ̃/ | |
| conditional | chercherais /ʃɛʁ.ʃə.ʁɛ/ |
chercherais /ʃɛʁ.ʃə.ʁɛ/ |
chercherait /ʃɛʁ.ʃə.ʁɛ/ |
chercherions /ʃɛʁ.ʃə.ʁjɔ̃/ |
chercheriez /ʃɛʁ.ʃə.ʁje/ |
chercheraient /ʃɛʁ.ʃə.ʁɛ/ | |
| (compound tenses) |
present perfect | present indicative of avoir + past participle | |||||
| pluperfect | imperfect indicative of avoir + past participle | ||||||
| past anterior2 | past historic of avoir + past participle | ||||||
| future perfect | future of avoir + past participle | ||||||
| conditional perfect | conditional of avoir + past participle | ||||||
| subjunctive | que je (j’) | que tu | qu’il, qu’elle | que nous | que vous | qu’ils, qu’elles | |
| (simple tenses) |
present | cherche /ʃɛʁʃ/ |
cherches /ʃɛʁʃ/ |
cherche /ʃɛʁʃ/ |
cherchions /ʃɛʁ.ʃjɔ̃/ |
cherchiez /ʃɛʁ.ʃje/ |
cherchent /ʃɛʁʃ/ |
| imperfect2 | cherchasse /ʃɛʁ.ʃas/ |
cherchasses /ʃɛʁ.ʃas/ |
cherchât /ʃɛʁ.ʃa/ |
cherchassions /ʃɛʁ.ʃa.sjɔ̃/ |
cherchassiez /ʃɛʁ.ʃa.sje/ |
cherchassent /ʃɛʁ.ʃas/ | |
| (compound tenses) |
past | present subjunctive of avoir + past participle | |||||
| pluperfect2 | imperfect subjunctive of avoir + past participle | ||||||
| imperative | – | – | – | ||||
| simple | — | cherche /ʃɛʁʃ/ |
— | cherchons /ʃɛʁ.ʃɔ̃/ |
cherchez /ʃɛʁ.ʃe/ |
— | |
| compound | — | simple imperative of avoir + past participle | — | simple imperative of avoir + past participle | simple imperative of avoir + past participle | — | |
| 1 The French gerund is usable only with the preposition en. | |||||||
2 In less formal writing or speech, these tenses may be found to have been replaced in the following way:
(Christopher Kendris [1995], Master the Basics: French, pp. 77, 78, 79, 81). | |||||||
Conjugation of se chercher (see also Appendix:French verbs)
| infinitive | simple | se chercher | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| compound | s'être + past participle | ||||||
| present participle or gerund1 | simple | se cherchant /sə ʃɛʁ.ʃɑ̃/ | |||||
| compound | ayant or étant + past participle | ||||||
| past participle | cherché /ʃɛʁ.ʃe/ | ||||||
| singular | plural | ||||||
| first | second | third | first | second | third | ||
| indicative | je (j’) | tu | il, elle, on | nous | vous | ils, elles | |
| (simple tenses) |
present | me cherche /mə ʃɛʁʃ/ |
te cherches /tə ʃɛʁʃ/ |
se cherche /sə ʃɛʁʃ/ |
nous cherchons /nu ʃɛʁ.ʃɔ̃/ |
vous cherchez /vu ʃɛʁ.ʃe/ |
se cherchent /sə ʃɛʁʃ/ |
| imperfect | me cherchais /mə ʃɛʁ.ʃɛ/ |
te cherchais /tə ʃɛʁ.ʃɛ/ |
se cherchait /sə ʃɛʁ.ʃɛ/ |
nous cherchions /nu ʃɛʁ.ʃjɔ̃/ |
vous cherchiez /vu ʃɛʁ.ʃje/ |
se cherchaient /sə ʃɛʁ.ʃɛ/ | |
| past historic2 | me cherchai /mə ʃɛʁ.ʃe/ |
te cherchas /tə ʃɛʁ.ʃa/ |
se chercha /sə ʃɛʁ.ʃa/ |
nous cherchâmes /nu ʃɛʁ.ʃam/ |
vous cherchâtes /vu ʃɛʁ.ʃat/ |
se cherchèrent /sə ʃɛʁ.ʃɛʁ/ | |
| future | me chercherai /mə ʃɛʁ.ʃə.ʁe/ |
te chercheras /tə ʃɛʁ.ʃə.ʁa/ |
se cherchera /sə ʃɛʁ.ʃə.ʁa/ |
nous chercherons /nu ʃɛʁ.ʃə.ʁɔ̃/ |
vous chercherez /vu ʃɛʁ.ʃə.ʁe/ |
se chercheront /sə ʃɛʁ.ʃə.ʁɔ̃/ | |
| conditional | me chercherais /mə ʃɛʁ.ʃə.ʁɛ/ |
te chercherais /tə ʃɛʁ.ʃə.ʁɛ/ |
se chercherait /sə ʃɛʁ.ʃə.ʁɛ/ |
nous chercherions /nu ʃɛʁ.ʃə.ʁjɔ̃/ |
vous chercheriez /vu ʃɛʁ.ʃə.ʁje/ |
se chercheraient /sə ʃɛʁ.ʃə.ʁɛ/ | |
| (compound tenses) |
present perfect | present indicative of s'être + past participle | |||||
| pluperfect | imperfect indicative of s'être + past participle | ||||||
| past anterior2 | past historic of s'être + past participle | ||||||
| future perfect | future of s'être + past participle | ||||||
| conditional perfect | conditional of s'être + past participle | ||||||
| subjunctive | que je (j’) | que tu | qu’il, qu’elle | que nous | que vous | qu’ils, qu’elles | |
| (simple tenses) |
present | me cherche /mə ʃɛʁʃ/ |
te cherches /tə ʃɛʁʃ/ |
se cherche /sə ʃɛʁʃ/ |
nous cherchions /nu ʃɛʁ.ʃjɔ̃/ |
vous cherchiez /vu ʃɛʁ.ʃje/ |
se cherchent /sə ʃɛʁʃ/ |
| imperfect2 | me cherchasse /mə ʃɛʁ.ʃas/ |
te cherchasses /tə ʃɛʁ.ʃas/ |
se cherchât /sə ʃɛʁ.ʃa/ |
nous cherchassions /nu ʃɛʁ.ʃa.sjɔ̃/ |
vous cherchassiez /vu ʃɛʁ.ʃa.sje/ |
se cherchassent /sə ʃɛʁ.ʃas/ | |
| (compound tenses) |
past | present subjunctive of s'être + past participle | |||||
| pluperfect2 | imperfect subjunctive of s'être + past participle | ||||||
| imperative | – | – | – | ||||
| simple | — | cherche-toi /ʃɛʁʃ.twa/ |
— | cherchons-nous /ʃɛʁ.ʃɔ̃.nu/ |
cherchez-vous /ʃɛʁ.ʃe.vu/ |
— | |
| compound | — | simple imperative of s'être + past participle | — | simple imperative of s'être + past participle | simple imperative of s'être + past participle | — | |
| 1 The French gerund is usable only with the preposition en. | |||||||
2 In less formal writing or speech, these tenses may be found to have been replaced in the following way:
(Christopher Kendris [1995], Master the Basics: French, pp. 77, 78, 79, 81). | |||||||
Derived terms
Further reading
- “chercher”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.
Middle French
Alternative forms
Etymology
From an alteration of Old French cerchier, sercher, cercier, cercer through assimilation.
Conjugation
- Middle French conjugation varies from one text to another. Hence, the following conjugation should be considered as typical, not as exhaustive.
Conjugation of chercher
| infinitive | simple | chercher | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| compound | avoir + past participle | ||||||
| present participle1 or gerund2 | simple | cherchant | |||||
| compound | present participle or gerund of avoir + past participle | ||||||
| past participle | cherché | ||||||
| singular | plural | ||||||
| first | second | third | first | second | third | ||
| indicative | ie (i’) | tu | il, elle | nous | vous | ilz, elles | |
| (simple tenses) |
present | cherche | cherches | cherche | cherchons | cherchez | cherchent |
| imperfect | cherchois, cherchoys | cherchois, cherchoys | cherchoit, cherchoyt | cherchions, cherchyons | cherchiez, cherchyez | cherchoient, cherchoyent | |
| past historic | chercha | cherchas | chercha | cherchasmes | cherchastes | chercherent | |
| future | chercherai, chercheray | chercheras | cherchera | chercherons | chercherez | chercheront | |
| conditional | chercherois, chercheroys | chercherois, chercheroys | chercheroit, chercheroyt | chercherions, chercheryons | chercheriez, chercheryez | chercheroient, chercheroyent | |
| (compound tenses) |
present perfect | present indicative of avoir + past participle | |||||
| pluperfect | imperfect indicative of avoir + past participle | ||||||
| past anterior | past historic of avoir + past participle | ||||||
| future perfect | future of avoir + past participle | ||||||
| conditional perfect | conditional of avoir + past participle | ||||||
| subjunctive | que ie (i’) | que tu | qu’il, qu’elle | que nous | que vous | qu’ilz, qu’elles | |
| (simple tenses) |
present | cherche | cherches | cherche | cherchons | cherchez | cherchent |
| imperfect | cherchasse | cherchasses | cherchast | cherchassions | cherchassiez | cherchassent | |
| (compound tenses) |
past | present subjunctive of avoir + past participle | |||||
| pluperfect | imperfect subjunctive of avoir + past participle | ||||||
| imperative | – | – | – | ||||
| simple | — | cherche | — | cherchons | cherchez | — | |
| compound | — | simple imperative of avoir + past participle | — | simple imperative of avoir + past participle | simple imperative of avoir + past participle | — | |
| 1 The present participle was variable in gender and number until the 17th century (Anne Sancier-Château [1995], Une esthétique nouvelle: Honoré d'Urfé, correcteur de l'Astrée, p. 179). The French Academy would eventually declare it not to be declined in 1679. | |||||||
| 2 The gerund was held to be invariable by grammarians of the early 17th century, and was usable with preposition en, as in Modern French, although the preposition was not mandatory (Anne Sancier-Château [1995], op. cit., p. 180). | |||||||
Descendants
- French: chercher
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