How to Conjugate "Inquiéter" (to Worry) in French

The verb inquiéter means "to worry" in French. When you need to say "worried" or "worrying," the verb will need to be conjugated to fit the tense. This is not one of ​the easiest French verb conjugations, but a quick lesson will show you how it's done in the simplest and most common forms.

Conjugating the French Verb Inquiéter

Inquiéter is a stem-changing verb, which is why it's a little tricky. The pronunciation may not change, but the spelling does and you need to pay attention. That's because in some forms, the acute é changes to a grave è. You'll also find that in the future and conditional tenses, either accented 'E' is acceptable.

Beyond that minor (but important) spelling change, inquiéter is conjugated like regular -er verbs, which is the most common conjugation pattern found in French. That makes things just a little easier, especially if you're studied any of these verbs before.

To conjugate inquiéter, pair the subject pronoun with the desired tense of your sentence. For instance, "I worry" is "j'inquiéte" and "we will worry" is either "nous inquiéterons" or "nous inquièterons."

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The Present Participle of Inquiéter

The present participle inquiétant can be a verb as well as an adjective, gerund, or noun depending on the context. 

The Past Participle and Passé Composé

To form the common past tense known as the passé composé, the past participle inquiété is required. To complete this form, you will also need the subject pronoun and appropriate conjugation of the auxiliary verb avoir. As an example, "I worried" becomes "j'ai inquiété" while "we worried" is "nous avons inquiété."

More Simple Inquiéter Conjugations to Know

When the act of worrying is somehow questionable or uncertain, the subjunctive verb mood may be used. Likewise, if there's no guarantee that the worrying will happen unless something else also occurs, use the conditional verb mood.

The literary tenses of the passé simple and imperfect subjunctive are common in formal writing.

There is no need to include the subject pronoun in the imperative verb form of inquiéter. That's because this is used in demands and requests that are meant to be short and direct. Instead of "tu inquiéte," use "inquiéte" alone.