Today we’ll look at a French verb with several meanings: Piquer. Translations include to sting or bite (as in an insect) and to jab or prick (as in an injection).
piquer
to sting, bite, jab, prick
Piquer meaning and conjugation
Word origin
The Modern French verb piquer (to sting, bite, jab, prick), is realted to the Latin noun pīcus (woodpecker).
Present tense conjugation
Piquer is a regular ER verb. This means that its endings are the same as all other regular ER verbs when conjugated in the present tense.
Je pique I jab
Tu piques You jab (singular, informal)
Il, elle pique He, she jabs
Nous piquons We jab
Vous piquez You jab (plural, formal)
Ils, elles piquent They jab
Example sentences
Piquer means “to sting” or “to bite: Un moustique m’a piqué (A mosquito bit me). This sentence uses the imperfect tense, which is used to indicated “was doing”.
Une abeille m’a piquée lorsque je faisais de la randonnée.
A bee stung me when I was hiking.
In this next example, piquer means “to give a shot or injection”. Les fesses is in informal but not necessarily rude word for “buttocks”.
L’infirmière me pique dans les fesses.
The nurse gives me a shot in the buttocks.
The construction faire une piqûre à + person means “to give an injection”.
Le médecin m’a fait une piqûre.
The doctor gave me an injection.
The verb piquer is also a slang word for “to steal” or “to nab”. The feminine noun balle can translate to small-sized ball (e.g. a baseball), bullet and buck (euro).
I got one hundred euros stolen from me!
Finally, as an adjective, piquant means “spicy” or “hot”. This sentence is in the future tense.
Si c’est trop piquant je ne le mangerai pas.
I won’t eat it if it’s too spicy.
Conclusion
Et voilà ! Now you know how to use piquer in French! Now check out another fun verb lesson covering râler (to complain, moan and groan).
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