Key facts

Téter

To suck · to suck/to suckle

B1Irregular
Stem
têt
Past participle
tété

Examples

Je tète le lait.

I'm suckling the milk.

Il ne tète pas souvent.

He doesn't suckle often.

Nous têtions le lait.

We were suckling the milk.

Nous avons tété le sirop.

We sucked the syrup.

This verb is highly irregular. Prioritize repetition and active recall.

Présent

Indicative present — everyday actions, ongoing situations, and habits; the tense you rely on most in conversation.

Group 1
Jetète
Isuck
Tutètes
Yousuck
Iltète
Hesucks
Noustétons
Wesuck
Voustétez
Yousuck
Ilstètent
Theysuck

Futur proche

Near future with aller + infinitive — what you are about to do, very soon after the moment of speaking.

Jevais téter
Iam going to suck
Tuvas téter
Youare going to suck
Ilva téter
Heis going to suck
Nousallons téter
Weare going to suck
Vousallez téter
Youare going to suck
Ilsvont téter
Theyare going to suck

Passé récent

Recent past with venir de + infinitive — something that has just finished, still fresh in the speaker’s mind.

Jeviens de téter
Ihave just sucked
Tuviens de téter
Youhave just sucked
Ilvient de téter
Hehas just sucked
Nousvenons de téter
Wehave just sucked
Vousvenez de téter
Youhave just sucked
Ilsviennent de téter
Theyhave just sucked

Passé composé

Compound past with être or avoir + past participle — completed, one-off events and the backbone of spoken storytelling.

J'ai tété
Ihave sucked
Tuas tété
Youhave sucked
Ila tété
Hehas sucked
Nousavons tété
Wehave sucked
Vousavez tété
Youhave sucked
Ilsont tété
Theyhave sucked

Conditionnel présent

Conditional mood — polite requests, imagined outcomes, and what would happen under certain conditions.

Jetéterais
Iwould suck
Tutéterais
Youwould suck
Iltéterait
Hewould suck
Noustéterions
Wewould suck
Voustéteriez
Youwould suck
Ilstéteraient
Theywould suck

Futur simple

Simple future — often more formal or literary than the near future; states intentions farther ahead in time.

Jetéterai
Iwill suck
Tutéteras
Youwill suck
Iltétera
Hewill suck
Noustéterons
Wewill suck
Voustéterez
Youwill suck
Ilstéteront
Theywill suck

Imparfait

Imperfect — repeated habits in the past, background description, and actions still in progress when something else occurred.

Jetétais
Iwas sucking
Tutétais
Youwere sucking
Iltétait
Hewas sucking
Noustétions
Were sucking
Voustétiez
Youwere sucking
Ilstétaient
Theywere sucking

Impératif présent

Present imperative — direct commands and friendly requests; only tu, nous, and vous person forms exist.

(Tu)tète
Yousuck
(Nous)tétons
Wesuck
(Vous)tétez
Yousuck

Participe présent

Present participle — the -ant form in subordinate clauses, compound tenses, and many fixed expressions.

tétant
sucking

Gérondif présent

Gerund with en + present participle — simultaneous action, manner, or cause while something else is going on.

en tétant
sucking

Similar conjugation models (Irregular)

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