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FRENCH VERB

tousser

to cough

  • #385 most used
  • Regular -er verb
  • Past participle: toussé
  • Present participle: toussant

Conjugation

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

Present

Présent · now, habits and facts

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

Past

Passé composé · finished actions

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

Imperfect

Imparfait · “used to” and “was …ing”

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

Future

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

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

Conditional

Conditionnel · “would”, polite requests

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

Present subjunctive

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

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

Imperative

Impératif · requests and orders

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

How to use tousser

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

  1. Present

    Tu tousses depuis une semaine, va voir un médecin.

    You've been coughing for a week, go see a doctor.

  2. Past

    Il a toussé pendant tout le film.

    He coughed through the whole film.

  3. Imperfect

    Le petit toussait tellement qu'il ne dormait plus.

    The little one was coughing so much he couldn't sleep anymore.

  4. Future

    Avec ce froid, tout le monde toussera demain.

    With this cold, everyone will be coughing tomorrow.

  5. Conditional

    Tu tousserais moins si tu arrêtais de fumer.

    You'd cough less if you stopped smoking.

  6. Present subjunctive

    Je n'aime pas que tu tousses comme ça.

    I don't like you coughing like that.

  7. Imperative

    Tousse dans ton coude, pas dans ta main.

    Cough into your elbow, not into your hand.

Good to know

  • Une toux is a cough; du sirop pour la toux is cough syrup.

Verbs like this one

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