chercher

French

Etymology

Inherited from Middle French chercher, cercher, altered from Old French cerchier through assimilation, from Late Latin circāre, from Latin circa, circus.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ʃɛʁ.ʃe/

• audio

  (file)

Verb

chercher

1. (transitive) to look for, to seek

   Je cherche du boulot.

   I'm looking for some work.

2. (intransitive, followed by à) to look (to do something)

   Chercher à expliquer ce phénomène.

   Look to explain this phenomenon.

3. (transitive, slang) to mess with someone, ask for trouble

   Tu me cherches ou quoi?

   Are you messing with me or what?

4. (transitive) to pick up, to go and get
5. (takes a reflexive pronoun, reflexive) to get to know oneself
   • 2018, Zaz, Nos vies:

     On est l’homme qui se cherche et la femme qui se trouve. Dans le cœur, un amour qui fait qu’on se retrouve.

     (please add an English translation of this quotation)

6. (takes a reflexive pronoun, reciprocal) to seek for each other

Conjugation

Conjugation of chercher (see also Appendix:French verbs)

infinitive	simple	chercher
	compound	avoir + past participle
present participle or gerund1	simple	cherchant /ʃɛʁ.ʃɑ̃/
	compound	ayant + past participle
past participle		cherché /ʃɛʁ.ʃe/
		singular			plural
		first	second	third	first	second	third
indicative		je (j’)	tu	il, elle, on	nous	vous	ils, elles
(simple tenses)	present	cherche /ʃɛʁʃ/	cherches /ʃɛʁʃ/	cherche /ʃɛʁʃ/	cherchons /ʃɛʁ.ʃɔ̃/	cherchez /ʃɛʁ.ʃe/	cherchent /ʃɛʁʃ/
	imperfect	cherchais /ʃɛʁ.ʃɛ/	cherchais /ʃɛʁ.ʃɛ/	cherchait /ʃɛʁ.ʃɛ/	cherchions /ʃɛʁ.ʃjɔ̃/	cherchiez /ʃɛʁ.ʃje/	cherchaient /ʃɛʁ.ʃɛ/
	past historic2	cherchai /ʃɛʁ.ʃe/	cherchas /ʃɛʁ.ʃa/	chercha /ʃɛʁ.ʃa/	cherchâmes /ʃɛʁ.ʃam/	cherchâtes /ʃɛʁ.ʃat/	cherchèrent /ʃɛʁ.ʃɛʁ/
	future	chercherai /ʃɛʁ.ʃə.ʁe/	chercheras /ʃɛʁ.ʃə.ʁa/	cherchera /ʃɛʁ.ʃə.ʁa/	chercherons /ʃɛʁ.ʃə.ʁɔ̃/	chercherez /ʃɛʁ.ʃə.ʁe/	chercheront /ʃɛʁ.ʃə.ʁɔ̃/
	conditional	chercherais /ʃɛʁ.ʃə.ʁɛ/	chercherais /ʃɛʁ.ʃə.ʁɛ/	chercherait /ʃɛʁ.ʃə.ʁɛ/	chercherions /ʃɛʁ.ʃə.ʁjɔ̃/	chercheriez /ʃɛʁ.ʃə.ʁje/	chercheraient /ʃɛʁ.ʃə.ʁɛ/
(compound tenses)	present perfect	present indicative of avoir + past participle
	pluperfect	imperfect indicative of avoir + past participle
	past anterior2	past historic of avoir + past participle
	future perfect	future of avoir + past participle
	conditional perfect	conditional of avoir + past participle
subjunctive		que je (j’)	que tu	qu’il, qu’elle	que nous	que vous	qu’ils, qu’elles
(simple tenses)	present	cherche /ʃɛʁʃ/	cherches /ʃɛʁʃ/	cherche /ʃɛʁʃ/	cherchions /ʃɛʁ.ʃjɔ̃/	cherchiez /ʃɛʁ.ʃje/	cherchent /ʃɛʁʃ/
	imperfect2	cherchasse /ʃɛʁ.ʃas/	cherchasses /ʃɛʁ.ʃas/	cherchât /ʃɛʁ.ʃa/	cherchassions /ʃɛʁ.ʃa.sjɔ̃/	cherchassiez /ʃɛʁ.ʃa.sje/	cherchassent /ʃɛʁ.ʃas/
(compound tenses)	past	present subjunctive of avoir + past participle
	pluperfect2	imperfect subjunctive of avoir + past participle
imperative		–	tu	–	nous	vous	–
simple		—	cherche /ʃɛʁʃ/	—	cherchons /ʃɛʁ.ʃɔ̃/	cherchez /ʃɛʁ.ʃe/	—
compound		—	simple imperative of avoir + past participle	—	simple imperative of avoir + past participle	simple imperative of avoir + past participle	—
1 The French gerund is usable only with the preposition en.
2 In less formal writing or speech, these tenses may be found to have been replaced in the following way: past historic → present perfect past anterior → pluperfect imperfect subjunctive → present subjunctive pluperfect subjunctive → past subjunctive (Christopher Kendris [1995], Master the Basics: French, pp. 77, 78, 79, 81).

Conjugation of se chercher (see also Appendix:French verbs)

infinitive	simple	se chercher
	compound	s'être + past participle
present participle or gerund1	simple	se cherchant /sə ʃɛʁ.ʃɑ̃/
	compound	ayant or étant + past participle
past participle		cherché /ʃɛʁ.ʃe/
		singular			plural
		first	second	third	first	second	third
indicative		je (j’)	tu	il, elle, on	nous	vous	ils, elles
(simple tenses)	present	me cherche /mə ʃɛʁʃ/	te cherches /tə ʃɛʁʃ/	se cherche /sə ʃɛʁʃ/	nous cherchons /nu ʃɛʁ.ʃɔ̃/	vous cherchez /vu ʃɛʁ.ʃe/	se cherchent /sə ʃɛʁʃ/
	imperfect	me cherchais /mə ʃɛʁ.ʃɛ/	te cherchais /tə ʃɛʁ.ʃɛ/	se cherchait /sə ʃɛʁ.ʃɛ/	nous cherchions /nu ʃɛʁ.ʃjɔ̃/	vous cherchiez /vu ʃɛʁ.ʃje/	se cherchaient /sə ʃɛʁ.ʃɛ/
	past historic2	me cherchai /mə ʃɛʁ.ʃe/	te cherchas /tə ʃɛʁ.ʃa/	se chercha /sə ʃɛʁ.ʃa/	nous cherchâmes /nu ʃɛʁ.ʃam/	vous cherchâtes /vu ʃɛʁ.ʃat/	se cherchèrent /sə ʃɛʁ.ʃɛʁ/
	future	me chercherai /mə ʃɛʁ.ʃə.ʁe/	te chercheras /tə ʃɛʁ.ʃə.ʁa/	se cherchera /sə ʃɛʁ.ʃə.ʁa/	nous chercherons /nu ʃɛʁ.ʃə.ʁɔ̃/	vous chercherez /vu ʃɛʁ.ʃə.ʁe/	se chercheront /sə ʃɛʁ.ʃə.ʁɔ̃/
	conditional	me chercherais /mə ʃɛʁ.ʃə.ʁɛ/	te chercherais /tə ʃɛʁ.ʃə.ʁɛ/	se chercherait /sə ʃɛʁ.ʃə.ʁɛ/	nous chercherions /nu ʃɛʁ.ʃə.ʁjɔ̃/	vous chercheriez /vu ʃɛʁ.ʃə.ʁje/	se chercheraient /sə ʃɛʁ.ʃə.ʁɛ/
(compound tenses)	present perfect	present indicative of s'être + past participle
	pluperfect	imperfect indicative of s'être + past participle
	past anterior2	past historic of s'être + past participle
	future perfect	future of s'être + past participle
	conditional perfect	conditional of s'être + past participle
subjunctive		que je (j’)	que tu	qu’il, qu’elle	que nous	que vous	qu’ils, qu’elles
(simple tenses)	present	me cherche /mə ʃɛʁʃ/	te cherches /tə ʃɛʁʃ/	se cherche /sə ʃɛʁʃ/	nous cherchions /nu ʃɛʁ.ʃjɔ̃/	vous cherchiez /vu ʃɛʁ.ʃje/	se cherchent /sə ʃɛʁʃ/
	imperfect2	me cherchasse /mə ʃɛʁ.ʃas/	te cherchasses /tə ʃɛʁ.ʃas/	se cherchât /sə ʃɛʁ.ʃa/	nous cherchassions /nu ʃɛʁ.ʃa.sjɔ̃/	vous cherchassiez /vu ʃɛʁ.ʃa.sje/	se cherchassent /sə ʃɛʁ.ʃas/
(compound tenses)	past	present subjunctive of s'être + past participle
	pluperfect2	imperfect subjunctive of s'être + past participle
imperative		–	tu	–	nous	vous	–
simple		—	cherche-toi /ʃɛʁʃ.twa/	—	cherchons-nous /ʃɛʁ.ʃɔ̃.nu/	cherchez-vous /ʃɛʁ.ʃe.vu/	—
compound		—	simple imperative of s'être + past participle	—	simple imperative of s'être + past participle	simple imperative of s'être + past participle	—
1 The French gerund is usable only with the preposition en.
2 In less formal writing or speech, these tenses may be found to have been replaced in the following way: past historic → present perfect past anterior → pluperfect imperfect subjunctive → present subjunctive pluperfect subjunctive → past subjunctive (Christopher Kendris [1995], Master the Basics: French, pp. 77, 78, 79, 81).

Derived terms

• chercher des noises
• chercher des poux
• chercher la femme
• chercher la merde
• chercher la petite bête
• chercher midi à quatorze heures
• chercher misère
• chercher querelle
• chercher ses mots
• chercher un verre
• chercher une aiguille dans une botte de foin
• le chercher
• qui cherche trouve

 

Further reading

• “chercher”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.

Middle French

Alternative forms

• cercher

Etymology

From an alteration of Old French cerchier, sercher, cercier, cercer through assimilation.

Verb

chercher

1. to search for; to look for

Conjugation

• Middle French conjugation varies from one text to another. Hence, the following conjugation should be considered as typical, not as exhaustive.

Conjugation of chercher

infinitive	simple	chercher
	compound	avoir + past participle
present participle1 or gerund2	simple	cherchant
	compound	present participle or gerund of avoir + past participle
past participle		cherché
		singular			plural
		first	second	third	first	second	third
indicative		ie (i’)	tu	il, elle	nous	vous	ilz, elles
(simple tenses)	present	cherche	cherches	cherche	cherchons	cherchez	cherchent
	imperfect	cherchois, cherchoys	cherchois, cherchoys	cherchoit, cherchoyt	cherchions, cherchyons	cherchiez, cherchyez	cherchoient, cherchoyent
	past historic	chercha	cherchas	chercha	cherchasmes	cherchastes	chercherent
	future	chercherai, chercheray	chercheras	cherchera	chercherons	chercherez	chercheront
	conditional	chercherois, chercheroys	chercherois, chercheroys	chercheroit, chercheroyt	chercherions, chercheryons	chercheriez, chercheryez	chercheroient, chercheroyent
(compound tenses)	present perfect	present indicative of avoir + past participle
	pluperfect	imperfect indicative of avoir + past participle
	past anterior	past historic of avoir + past participle
	future perfect	future of avoir + past participle
	conditional perfect	conditional of avoir + past participle
subjunctive		que ie (i’)	que tu	qu’il, qu’elle	que nous	que vous	qu’ilz, qu’elles
(simple tenses)	present	cherche	cherches	cherche	cherchons	cherchez	cherchent
	imperfect	cherchasse	cherchasses	cherchast	cherchassions	cherchassiez	cherchassent
(compound tenses)	past	present subjunctive of avoir + past participle
	pluperfect	imperfect subjunctive of avoir + past participle
imperative		–	tu	–	nous	vous	–
simple		—	cherche	—	cherchons	cherchez	—
compound		—	simple imperative of avoir + past participle	—	simple imperative of avoir + past participle	simple imperative of avoir + past participle	—
1 The present participle was variable in gender and number until the 17th century (Anne Sancier-Château [1995], Une esthétique nouvelle: Honoré d'Urfé, correcteur de l'Astrée, p. 179). The French Academy would eventually declare it not to be declined in 1679.
2 The gerund was held to be invariable by grammarians of the early 17th century, and was usable with preposition en, as in Modern French, although the preposition was not mandatory (Anne Sancier-Château [1995], op. cit., p. 180).

Descendants

• French: chercher