Skip to content
fluentbyear

FRENCH VERB

attraper

to catch

  • #407 most used
  • Regular -er verb
  • Past participle: attrapé
  • Present participle: attrapant

Conjugation

Tap any form to hear it. The part that changes is in colour.

Present

Présent · now, habits and facts

  1. je I catch
  2. tu you catch
  3. il, elle, on he/she catches
  4. nous we catch
  5. vous you catch
  6. ils, elles they catch

Past

Passé composé · finished actions

  1. je I caught
  2. tu you caught
  3. il, elle, on he/she caught
  4. nous we caught
  5. vous you caught
  6. ils, elles they caught

Imperfect

Imparfait · “used to” and “was …ing”

  1. je I used to catch
  2. tu you used to catch
  3. il, elle, on he/she used to catch
  4. nous we used to catch
  5. vous you used to catch
  6. ils, elles they used to catch

Future

Futur simple · plans; in speech, “je vais parler” is just as common

  1. je I will catch
  2. tu you will catch
  3. il, elle, on he/she will catch
  4. nous we will catch
  5. vous you will catch
  6. ils, elles they will catch

Conditional

Conditionnel · “would”, polite requests

  1. je I would catch
  2. tu you would catch
  3. il, elle, on he/she would catch
  4. nous we would catch
  5. vous you would catch
  6. ils, elles they would catch

Present subjunctive

Subjonctif présent · wishes, doubts, “il faut que …”

  1. je (that) I catch
  2. tu (that) you catch
  3. il, elle, on (that) he/she catch
  4. nous (that) we catch
  5. vous (that) you catch
  6. ils, elles (that) they catch

Imperative

Impératif · requests and orders

  1. tu catch!
  2. nous catch! (let’s)
  3. vous catch! (plural, or formal)

How to use attraper

One sentence for each tense, the way people say it.

  1. Present

    J'attrape toujours un rhume en novembre.

    I always catch a cold in November.

  2. Past

    On a attrapé le dernier métro de justesse.

    We just caught the last metro.

  3. Imperfect

    Enfants, on attrapait des crabes sur la plage.

    As kids, we used to catch crabs on the beach.

  4. Future

    Tu attraperas froid si tu sors les cheveux mouillés.

    You'll catch a cold if you go out with wet hair.

  5. Conditional

    Le chat attraperait les souris s'il avait faim.

    The cat would catch the mice if it were hungry.

  6. Present subjunctive

    J'ai peur qu'il attrape une insolation à la plage.

    I'm afraid he'll get sunstroke at the beach.

  7. Imperative

    Attrape, je te lance les clés !

    Catch, I'm throwing you the keys!

Good to know

  • Attraper un rhume is to catch a cold; attraper le bus, to catch the bus.
  • Se faire attraper is to get caught, or to get told off.

Verbs like this one

The same pattern, on other verbs: regular -er verb.