toquer

French

Etymology

Inherited from Middle French toquer, tocquer, most likely from an onomatopoeic root *toc (based on the sound of hitting something), or alternatively from an Old Northern French *toquer, *tocquer (compare Old French tochier), from Vulgar Latin *tuccāre (“to strike; to touch”) (whence toucher).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /tɔ.ke/

• Audio (Paris):

  (file)

• Audio:

  (file)

Verb

toquer

1. (transitive) to bother, to dog
2. (transitive) to hit, to tap, to bang, to knock
3. (reflexive, colloquial, se toquer de) to fall in love; to fall head over heels (with)

Conjugation

Conjugation of toquer (see also Appendix:French verbs)

infinitive	simple	toquer
	compound	avoir + past participle
present participle or gerund1	simple	toquant /tɔ.kɑ̃/
	compound	ayant + past participle
past participle		toqué /tɔ.ke/
		singular			plural
		first	second	third	first	second	third
indicative		je (j’)	tu	il, elle, on	nous	vous	ils, elles
(simple tenses)	present	toque /tɔk/	toques /tɔk/	toque /tɔk/	toquons /tɔ.kɔ̃/	toquez /tɔ.ke/	toquent /tɔk/
	imperfect	toquais /tɔ.kɛ/	toquais /tɔ.kɛ/	toquait /tɔ.kɛ/	toquions /tɔ.kjɔ̃/	toquiez /tɔ.kje/	toquaient /tɔ.kɛ/
	past historic2	toquai /tɔ.ke/	toquas /tɔ.ka/	toqua /tɔ.ka/	toquâmes /tɔ.kam/	toquâtes /tɔ.kat/	toquèrent /tɔ.kɛʁ/
	future	toquerai /tɔ.kʁe/	toqueras /tɔ.kʁa/	toquera /tɔ.kʁa/	toquerons /tɔ.kʁɔ̃/	toquerez /tɔ.kʁe/	toqueront /tɔ.kʁɔ̃/
	conditional	toquerais /tɔ.kʁɛ/	toquerais /tɔ.kʁɛ/	toquerait /tɔ.kʁɛ/	toquerions /tɔ.kə.ʁjɔ̃/	toqueriez /tɔ.kə.ʁje/	toqueraient /tɔ.kʁɛ/
(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	toque /tɔk/	toques /tɔk/	toque /tɔk/	toquions /tɔ.kjɔ̃/	toquiez /tɔ.kje/	toquent /tɔk/
	imperfect2	toquasse /tɔ.kas/	toquasses /tɔ.kas/	toquât /tɔ.ka/	toquassions /tɔ.ka.sjɔ̃/	toquassiez /tɔ.ka.sje/	toquassent /tɔ.kas/
(compound tenses)	past	present subjunctive of avoir + past participle
	pluperfect2	imperfect subjunctive of avoir + past participle
imperative		–	tu	–	nous	vous	–
simple		—	toque /tɔk/	—	toquons /tɔ.kɔ̃/	toquez /tɔ.ke/	—
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).

Related terms

• toucher

Further reading

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

Anagrams

• troque, troqué

Middle French

Alternative forms

• tocquer

Etymology

Old Northern French toquer, from Vulgar Latin *tucco (“I strike, knock, touch”).

Verb

toquer

1. to touch

Conjugation

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

Conjugation of toquer

infinitive	simple	toquer
	compound	avoir + past participle
present participle1 or gerund2	simple	toquant
	compound	present participle or gerund of avoir + past participle
past participle		toqué
		singular			plural
		first	second	third	first	second	third
indicative		ie (i’)	tu	il, elle	nous	vous	ilz, elles
(simple tenses)	present	toque	toques	toque	toquons	toquez	toquent
	imperfect	toquois, toquoys	toquois, toquoys	toquoit, toquoyt	toquions, toquyons	toquiez, toquyez	toquoient, toquoyent
	past historic	toqua	toquas	toqua	toquasmes	toquastes	toquerent
	future	toquerai, toqueray	toqueras	toquera	toquerons	toquerez	toqueront
	conditional	toquerois, toqueroys	toquerois, toqueroys	toqueroit, toqueroyt	toquerions, toqueryons	toqueriez, toqueryez	toqueroient, toqueroyent
(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	toque	toques	toque	toquons	toquez	toquent
	imperfect	toquasse	toquasses	toquast	toquassions	toquassiez	toquassent
(compound tenses)	past	present subjunctive of avoir + past participle
	pluperfect	imperfect subjunctive of avoir + past participle
imperative		–	tu	–	nous	vous	–
simple		—	toque	—	toquons	toquez	—
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).