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Definition 2024
pécher
pécher
French
Verb
pécher
- to sin
Related terms
Conjugation
This verb is conjugated like céder. It is a regular -er verb, except that its last stem vowel alternates between /e/ (written ‘é’) and /ɛ/ (written ‘è’), with the latter being used before mute ‘e’. One special case is the future stem, used in the future and the conditional. Before 1990, the future stem of such verbs was written pécher-, reflecting the historic pronunciation /e/. In 1990, the French Academy recommended that it be written pècher-, reflecting the now common pronunciation /ɛ/, thereby making this distinction consistent throughout the conjugation (and also matching in this regard the conjugations of verbs like lever and jeter). Both spellings are in use today, and both are therefore given here.
Conjugation of pécher (see also Appendix:French verbs)
| simple | compound | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| infinitive | pécher | avoir péché | |||||
| gerund | en péchant | en ayant péché | |||||
| present participle | péchant /pe.ʃɑ̃/ |
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| past participle | péché /pe.ʃe/ |
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| person | singular | plural | |||||
| first | second | third | first | second | third | ||
| indicative | je (j’) | tu | il | nous | vous | ils | |
| simple tenses |
present | pèche /pɛʃ/ |
pèches /pɛʃ/ |
pèche /pɛʃ/ |
péchons /pe.ʃɔ̃/ |
péchez /pe.ʃe/ |
pèchent /pɛʃ/ |
| imperfect | péchais /pe.ʃɛ/ |
péchais /pe.ʃɛ/ |
péchait /pe.ʃɛ/ |
péchions /pe.ʃjɔ̃/ |
péchiez /pe.ʃje/ |
péchaient /pe.ʃɛ/ |
|
| past historic1 | péchai /pe.ʃe/ |
péchas /pe.ʃa/ |
pécha /pe.ʃa/ |
péchâmes /pe.ʃam/ |
péchâtes /pe.ʃat/ |
péchèrent /pe.ʃɛʁ/ |
|
| future | pècherai or pécherai /pɛʃ.ʁe/ |
pècheras or pécheras /pɛʃ.ʁa/ |
pèchera or péchera /pɛʃ.ʁa/ |
pècherons or pécherons /pɛʃ.ʁɔ̃/ |
pècherez or pécherez /pɛʃ.ʁe/ |
pècheront or pécheront /pɛʃ.ʁɔ̃/ |
|
| conditional | pècherais or pécherais /pɛʃ.ʁɛ/ |
pècherais or pécherais /pɛʃ.ʁɛ/ |
pècherait or pécherait /pɛʃ.ʁɛ/ |
pècherions or pécherions /pɛ.ʃə.ʁjɔ̃/ |
pècheriez or pécheriez /pɛ.ʃə.ʁje/ |
pècheraient or pécheraient /pɛʃ.ʁɛ/ |
|
| compound tenses |
present perfect | Use the present tense of avoir followed by the past participle | |||||
| pluperfect | Use the imperfect tense of avoir followed by the past participle | ||||||
| past anterior1 | Use the past historic tense of avoir followed by the past participle | ||||||
| future perfect | Use the future tense of avoir followed by the past participle | ||||||
| conditional perfect | Use the conditional tense of avoir followed by the past participle | ||||||
| subjunctive | que je (j’) | que tu | qu’il | que nous | que vous | qu’ils | |
| simple tenses |
present | pèche /pɛʃ/ |
pèches /pɛʃ/ |
pèche /pɛʃ/ |
péchions /pe.ʃjɔ̃/ |
péchiez /pe.ʃje/ |
pèchent /pɛʃ/ |
| imperfect1 |
péchasse /pe.ʃas/ |
péchasses /pe.ʃas/ |
péchât /pe.ʃa/ |
péchassions /pe.ʃa.sjɔ̃/ |
péchassiez /pe.ʃa.sje/ |
péchassent /pe.ʃas/ |
|
| compound tenses |
past | Use the present subjunctive tense of avoir followed by the past participle | |||||
| pluperfect1 | Use the imperfect subjunctive tense of avoir followed by the past participle | ||||||
| imperative | – | tu | – | nous | vous | – | |
| — | pèche /pɛʃ/ |
— | péchons /pe.ʃɔ̃/ |
péchez /pe.ʃe/ |
— | ||
| 1literary tenses | |||||||