How to Conjugate the French Verb 'Craindre' ('to Fear')

Craindre ("to fear") is an irregular -re verb that's conjugated like all other French verbs ending in -aindre, -eindre, and -oindre. This is evident in the conjugation table below that shows the simple conjugations of craindre; compound conjugations that consist of the conjugated auxiliary verb avoir and the past participle craint are not included in the table.

'Craindre': Conjugated Like all verbs ending in '-aindre'

Irregular -re verbs fall into a few patterns that make memorizing their conjugations a little easier: verbs conjugated like prendre, verbs conjugated like battre, verbs including mettre and all its derivatives, those including rompre and its derivatives, and a fifth group including all verbs that end in -aindre like craindre, -eindre like peindre, and -oindre like joindre.

A final group of very irregular verbs, such as dire, écrire, faire, have such unusual and unwieldy conjugations that they follow no pattern and need to be memorized in order to use them.

The fifth group of verbs ending in -aindre like craindre drops the d in the stem in both singular and plural forms and adds a g in front of the n in plural forms. Other verbs like craindre include: 

• contraindre > to force, to compel 
• plaindre > to pity, to feel sorry for

Usage and Expressions 

Craindre is a transitive verb that's used in numerous idiomatic expressions. It can be translated as "to fear," "to be frightened of," or "to be afraid of." The causative se faire craindre means "to intimidate."

• craindre Dieu > to go in fear of / to fear God
• craindre le pire (familiar) > to fear the worst
• Ne crains rien. > Have no fear. / Never fear. / Don't be afraid.
• Il n'y a rien à craindre. > There's no cause for alarm. / There's nothing to fear.
• Sa grosse voix le faisait craindre de tous ses élèves. > His booming voice made all his pupils afraid of him.
• Elle sait se faire craindre de ses subordonnés. > She knows how to intimidate her subordinates.
• Je ne crains pas les piqûres. > I'm not afraid of injections.
• Il y a tout à craindre d'une intervention militaire. > One can expect the worst from a military intervention.
• Craignant de la réveiller, il a retiré ses chaussures. > He took off his shoes for fear of waking her up.
• Je crains de l'avoir blessée. > I'm afraid I've hurt her.
• Je crains fort qu'il (ne) soit déjà trop tard. > I'm really afraid it's already too late.
• Je crains que oui / non. > I'm afraid so / not.
• Ça craint le froid. > It's sensitive to cold.
• Ça craint. (very informal) > It's a real pain.
• craindre pour quelqu'un / quelque chose > to fear for somebody or something

Simple Conjugations of the Irregular French '-re' Verb 'Craindre'