How to Conjugate the French '-re' Verb 'Mordre' ('to Bite')

Mordre, pronounced "mohr dra," is a French -re verb that means "to bite, grip, eat into, mesh, be taken in by, make a dent in, overlap." Mordre is a regular transitive verb. Scroll down to see a table showing all simple conjugations of mordre; the table does not include compound tenses, which consist of the conjugated auxiliary verb avoir and the past participle mordu.

Expressions and Usage

• mordre un fruit > to bite into a piece of fruit
• se faire mordre > to get bitten
• il s'est fait mordre à la main > he was bitten on the hand
• mordre la ligne > to cross the white line
• Ça ne mord pas beaucoup par ici. > The fish aren't biting much around here.
• mordre (à l'appât) / à l'hameçon > to rise (to the bait), to bite
• il / ça n'a pas mordu. > He wasn't taken in. / He didn't fall for it.
• Mordre à > to be hooked by, to be taken in by, to fall
• Mordre dans > to bite into
• Mordre sur > to cross a line, to make a dent in your bills, to overlap periods
• Le stage mordra sur la deuxième semaine de mars. > The course will continue into the second week in March.
• se mordre (transitive pronominal) la langue > to bite one's tongue
• Je m'en suis mordu les doigts. (figurative) > I could have kicked myself.
• Il va s'en mordre les doigts. > He'll be sorry he did it. / He'll live to regret it.
• se mordre la queue > to chase one's tale, to go around in circles

How to Conjugate 'Mordre'

Mordre is conjugated like all other regular -re verbs, which are a small group of French verbs that share conjugation patterns in all tenses and moods.

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There are five main kinds of verbs in French: regular -er, -ir, -re; stem-changing; and irregular.  The smallest category of regular French verbs is -re verbs.

How to Conjugate '-re' Verbs

Remove the -re ending of the infinitive to reveal the verb's stem, then add the regular -re endings to the stem. For instance, to conjugate an -re verb in the present tense, remove the infinitive ending and add the present-tense endings to the stem.

Other Common French '-re' Verbs

Here are some of the most common regular -re verbs:

• attendre > to wait (for)
• défendre > to defend
• descendre > to descend
• entendre > to hear
• étendre > to stretch
• fondre > to melt
• pendre > to hang, suspend
• perdre > to lose
• prétendre > to claim
• rendre > to give back, return
• répandre > to spread, scatter
• répondre > to answer
• vendre > to sell

Simple Conjugations of the French Regular '-re' Verb 'Mordre'