How to Conjugate the French Verb "Blesser" (to Hurt, Offend)

Do not confuse the French verb blesser with a blessing because it actually means "to hurt" or "to offend." That is a very distinct difference from bénir (the verb for "to bless"). Using one when you meant the other can give your French sentence an entirely new meaning.

When you need to say "to hurt" in the past, present, or future tense, you will need to conjugate the verb. The good news is that blesser is a relatively easy one because it follows a common pattern.

Conjugating the French Verb Blesser

Blesser is a regular -ER verb. Conjugating it into the various verb forms is done with the same endings as similar verbs like attacher (to attach) and baigner (to bathe). For instance, in the present tense with the subject je or il, the letter 'R' is dropped from blesser and an 'S' is added when using it with a tu subject.

It's all rather easy once you learn how to recognize the patterns and this chart will help. Simply pair the subject pronoun with the tense of your subject and you're done. As an example, "we are hurting" is "nous blessons" and "we will hurt" is "nous blesserons."

Subject	Present	Future	Imperfect
je	blesse	blesserai	blessais
tu	blesses	blesseras	blessais
il	blesse	blessera	blessait
nous	blessons	blesserons	blessions
vous	blessez	blesserez	blessiez
ils	blessent	blesseront	blessaient

The Present Participle of Blesser

When you drop the -er ending and add an -ant to blesser, you create the present participle of blessant. It is a verb and can also be used as an adjective, gerund, or noun.

The Common Past Tense of Blesser

The passé composé is a form of the past tense that is commonly used in French. Rather than memorizing all the imperfect forms of blesser, you can use this for all subjects.

To do so, you will need to conjugate the auxiliary verb avoir. This is followed by the past participle blessé. When you want to say "I did hurt," use "j'ai blessé."

More Conjugations of Blesser

There are a few more forms of blesser that you may need from time to time. The passé simple and imperfect subjunctive are rare and typically found in formal writing. The other two are more common.

You can use the subjunctive form of blesser when the act of hurting is uncertain. In a similar fashion, the conditional verb mood is used when the hurting may or may not happen as it is dependent on certain circumstances.

Subject	Subjunctive	Conditional	Passé Simple	Imperfect Subjunctive
je	blesse	blesserais	blessai	blessasse
tu	blesses	blesserais	blessas	blessasses
il	blesse	blesserait	blessa	blessât
nous	blessions	blesserions	blessâmes	blessassions
vous	blessiez	blesseriez	blessâtes	blessassiez
ils	blessent	blesseraient	blessèrent	blessassent

The last of the simple conjugations of blesser is the imperative. This one is used in short exclamations that request or demand something. When using it, skip the subject pronoun and use the imperative form alone.

	Imperative
(tu)	blesse
(nous)	blessons
(vous)	blessez