A Step-By-Step Conjugation of "Intéresser" (to Interest)

"To interest" in French is the verb intéresser. It's relatively easy to remember, now you just need to know how to conjugate it. This will allow you to say "interested" or "have interest," as well as other common forms of the verb. 

Conjugating the French Verb Intéresser

Intéresser is a regular -ER verb, which makes the conjugations easier to learn. That's because this is a very common verb pattern. If you've learned to conjugate words like cuisiner (to cook) or donner (to give), you'll recognize the endings for intéresser.

The key to any conjugation is to recognize the verb stem. In the case of intéresser, that is intéress-. To this, we add a variety of infinitive endings to match both the subject pronoun and the tense of the sentence. For instance, "I have interest" is "j'intéresse" and "we will be interested" is "nous intéresserons."

The Present Participle of Intéresser

Useful as an adjective, gerund, or noun as well as a verb, the present participle of intéresser is intéressant. This is formed by adding -ant to the verb stem and is the standard way to form the participle.

The Past Participle and Passé Composé

The past participle intéressé is required to form the past tense passé composé. To complete it, you must also conjugate the auxiliary verb avoir and use the subject pronoun. For example, "I was interested" is "j'ai intéressé" and "we were interested" becomes "nous avons intéressé."

More Simple Intéresser Conjugations to Know

Beyond those simple conjugations, there are a few more forms of intéresser that you may need at times. The subjunctive verb mood, for instance, implies that the verb's action is questionable and not guaranteed. Similarly, when the action is dependent on something, the conditional verb mood is useful.

If you read some French, it's likely that you will encounter the passé simple. Both it and the imperfect subjunctive are literary tenses and are good to know or, at least, be able to recognize.

For short and often assertive commands and requests, use the imperative verb form. When doing so, skip the subject pronoun. Rather than sayin "tu intéresse," you can simplify it to "intéresse."