Understanding the Meaning of the French Verb Chercher

Chercher is a regular -ER verb and means to look for. Chercher is commonly used like its English counterpart, but there are a few aspects that make it a little tricky. This lesson explains which verb mood to use with chercher, the meaning of chercher followed by an infinitive, and a few essential expressions with chercher. Meaning Chercher means to look/search for when its followed by a noun. The meaning of for is built into the verb itself, so it should never followed by the preposition pour.Que cherches-tu  ?What are you looking for?Je cherche mes clà ©sIm looking for my keysIl cherche une nouvelle voitureHes looking for a new car Chercher and a Verb When chercher is followed by a verb, it means to try or to attempt and must be followed by the preposition à  :Je cherche à   comprendre la situationIm trying to understand the situationQuest-ce que tu cherches à   faire  ?What are you trying to do? Chercher and Verb Moods Chercher is a rather unusual verb, in that it can be followed by any of three verb moods, with a subtle difference in meaning between each one. This occurs in the construction chercher indefinite pronoun verb: Chercher and IndicativeIn this construction, you know that the person or thing exists and youre trying to find him/it:Je cherche quelquun qui peut maiderIm looking for someone who can help meJe cherche lhomme qui connaà ®t mes parentsIm looking for the man who knows my parentsJe cherche quelque chose qui peut le faireIm looking for something that can do itJe cherche une maison verte qui est en centre villeIm looking for a green house downtown (it belongs to my brother)Chercher and subjunctiveThe subjunctive indicates in French either that youre not sure the person or thing exists, or that youre not sure youll be able to find him/it. Unfortunately, this distinction does not exist in English, unless you add some additional words:Je cherche quelquun qui puisse maiderIm looking for someone who can (might be able to) help meJe cherche un homme qui connaisse mes parentsIm looking for a man who knows (might know) my parentsJe cherche quelque chose qui puisse le faireIm looking for somethin g that can (might be able to) do itJe cherche une maison verte qui soit en centre villeIm looking for a green house downtown (that may or may not exist)Chercher and ConditionalWith the conditional, you expressing hope about existence of the person or thing and your dream of finding him/it.Je cherche quelquun qui pourrait maiderIm looking for someone who can help meJe cherche un homme qui connaà ®trait mes parentsIm looking for a man who might know my parents (I hope there is someone)Je cherche quelque chose qui pourrait le faireIm looking for something that can do itJe cherche une maison verte qui serait en centre villeIm looking for a green house downtown (I really want to buy a house like that) Expressions With Chercher Aller chercher, to fetch, to go and getChercher midi à   14 heures, to complicate the issueChercher la petite bà ªte, to split hairs Conjugations Present tense:je cherchetu  cherchesil cherchenous  cherchonsvous  cherchezils  cherchent