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Verb conjugation

coller

to stick (together), to glue; to approach too closely; to be too close

Usage

Coller is the everyday verb for sticking or gluing something (coller une affiche, coller un timbre), and it has a huge range of figurative and colloquial uses: coller un examen means to fail it, coller quelqu'un can mean to give a student detention (French school slang), and ça colle means "that works, that fits."

Examples
  • Elle a collé le poster sur le mur. — She stuck the poster on the wall.
  • Le prof l'a collé pour avoir séché les cours. — The teacher gave him detention for skipping class.
  • Ton emploi du temps, ça te colle ce soir ? — Does that time work for you tonight?
Common mistake

Coller has far more colloquial meanings in French school and youth slang than its literal "to glue" sense — a learner who only knows the literal meaning will miss common expressions like être collé (to have detention) or ça colle (that works).

Simple tenses

Present

jecolle
tucolles
il/ellecolle
nouscollons
vouscollez
ils/ellescollent

Imperfect

jecollais
tucollais
il/ellecollait
nouscollions
vouscolliez
ils/ellescollaient

Past historic (passé simple)

jecollai
tucollas
il/ellecolla
nouscollâmes
vouscollâtes
ils/ellescollèrent

Future

jecollerai
tucolleras
il/ellecollera
nouscollerons
vouscollerez
ils/ellescolleront

Conditional

jecollerais
tucollerais
il/ellecollerait
nouscollerions
vouscolleriez
ils/ellescolleraient

Subjunctive

jecolle
tucolles
il/ellecolle
nouscollions
vouscolliez
ils/ellescollent

Subjunctive (imperfect)

jecollasse
tucollasses
il/ellecollât
nouscollassions
vouscollassiez
ils/ellescollassent

Imperative

tucolle
nouscollons
vouscollez

Compound tenses

Passé composé

jeai collé
tuas collé
il/ellea collé
nousavons collé
vousavez collé
ils/ellesont collé

Plus-que-parfait

jeavais collé
tuavais collé
il/elleavait collé
nousavions collé
vousaviez collé
ils/ellesavaient collé

Passé antérieur

jeeus collé
tueus collé
il/elleeut collé
nouseûmes collé
vouseûtes collé
ils/elleseurent collé

Futur antérieur

jeaurai collé
tuauras collé
il/elleaura collé
nousaurons collé
vousaurez collé
ils/ellesauront collé

Conditionnel passé

jeaurais collé
tuaurais collé
il/elleaurait collé
nousaurions collé
vousauriez collé
ils/ellesauraient collé

Subjonctif passé

jeaie collé
tuaies collé
il/elleait collé
nousayons collé
vousayez collé
ils/ellesaient collé

Subjonctif plus-que-parfait

jeeusse collé
tueusses collé
il/elleeût collé
nouseussions collé
vouseussiez collé
ils/elleseussent collé

Impératif passé

tuaie collé
nousayons collé
vousayez collé

Other

Present participle

collant

Past participle

collé

Infinitive

coller

Want to practice? Try a conjugation exercise.

Frequently asked questions

What does "coller" mean?

"coller" means "to stick (together), to glue; to approach too closely; to be too close".

How do you conjugate "coller" in the present tense?

The present of "coller" is: je colle, tu colles, il/elle colle, nous collons, vous collez, ils/elles collent.

What is the Passé composé of "coller"?

The passé composé of "coller" is: je ai collé, tu as collé, il/elle a collé, nous avons collé, vous avez collé, ils/elles ont collé.

What is the Imperative of "coller"?

The imperative of "coller" is: tu colle, nous collons, vous collez.