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Verb conjugation

crisper

to tense, to tense up

Usage

Crisper means to tense up a muscle physically (crisper les poings) or, more often, to make someone uneasy, tense, or irritated (ce sujet le crispe). The reflexive se crisper is extremely common for a person visibly tensing in reaction to stress or conflict.

Examples
  • Elle a crispé les mâchoires en entendant la remarque.She clenched her jaw at the remark.
  • Ce débat a tendance à crisper les esprits.This debate tends to put everyone on edge.
  • Il s'est crispé dès qu'on a parlé d'argent.He tensed up as soon as money came up.
Common mistake

Se crisper describes a visible, physical tensing (jaw, hands, posture, tone) in reaction to stress, not just abstract worry — using it for calm background anxiety without any physical tension misses the word's core, bodily sense.

Simple tenses

Present

jecrispe
tucrispes
il/ellecrispe
nouscrispons
vouscrispez
ils/ellescrispent

Imperfect

jecrispais
tucrispais
il/ellecrispait
nouscrispions
vouscrispiez
ils/ellescrispaient

Past historic (passé simple)

jecrispai
tucrispas
il/ellecrispa
nouscrispâmes
vouscrispâtes
ils/ellescrispèrent

Future

jecrisperai
tucrisperas
il/ellecrispera
nouscrisperons
vouscrisperez
ils/ellescrisperont

Conditional

jecrisperais
tucrisperais
il/ellecrisperait
nouscrisperions
vouscrisperiez
ils/ellescrisperaient

Subjunctive

jecrispe
tucrispes
il/ellecrispe
nouscrispions
vouscrispiez
ils/ellescrispent

Subjunctive (imperfect)

jecrispasse
tucrispasses
il/ellecrispât
nouscrispassions
vouscrispassiez
ils/ellescrispassent

Imperative

tucrispe
nouscrispons
vouscrispez

Compound tenses

Passé composé

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

Plus-que-parfait

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

Passé antérieur

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

Futur antérieur

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

Conditionnel passé

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

Subjonctif passé

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

Subjonctif plus-que-parfait

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

Impératif passé

tuaie crispé
nousayons crispé
vousayez crispé

Other

Present participle

crispant

Past participle

crispé

Infinitive

crisper

Want to practice? Try a conjugation exercise.

Frequently asked questions

What does "crisper" mean?

"crisper" means "to tense, to tense up".

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

The present of "crisper" is: je crispe, tu crispes, il/elle crispe, nous crispons, vous crispez, ils/elles crispent.

What is the Passé composé of "crisper"?

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

What is the Imperative of "crisper"?

The imperative of "crisper" is: tu crispe, nous crispons, vous crispez.