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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.