devancer
French
Etymology
From devant.
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /də.vɑ̃.se/
Audio (file) Audio (Switzerland) (file)
Verb
devancer
- (transitive) to overtake, to get ahead, to surpass
- (transitive) to arrive earlier than (someone), to do (something before somebody else), to beat to the punch
- Synonyms: prendre de court, coiffer sur le poteau
- (transitive) to precede, to be ahead of (something in a list)
- to anticipate, to pre-empt
Conjugation
This verb is part of a group of -er verbs for which 'c' is softened to a 'ç' before the vowels 'a' and 'o'.
Conjugation of devancer (see also Appendix:French verbs)
| infinitive | simple | devancer | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| compound | avoir + past participle | ||||||
| present participle or gerund1 | simple | devançant /də.vɑ̃.sɑ̃/ | |||||
| compound | ayant + past participle | ||||||
| past participle | devancé /də.vɑ̃.se/ | ||||||
| singular | plural | ||||||
| first | second | third | first | second | third | ||
| indicative | je (j’) | tu | il, elle, on | nous | vous | ils, elles | |
| (simple tenses) | present | devance /də.vɑ̃s/ | devances /də.vɑ̃s/ | devance /də.vɑ̃s/ | devançons /də.vɑ̃.sɔ̃/ | devancez /də.vɑ̃.se/ | devancent /də.vɑ̃s/ |
| imperfect | devançais /də.vɑ̃.sɛ/ | devançais /də.vɑ̃.sɛ/ | devançait /də.vɑ̃.sɛ/ | devancions /də.vɑ̃.sjɔ̃/ | devanciez /də.vɑ̃.sje/ | devançaient /də.vɑ̃.sɛ/ | |
| past historic2 | devançai /də.vɑ̃.se/ | devanças /də.vɑ̃.sa/ | devança /də.vɑ̃.sa/ | devançâmes /də.vɑ̃.sam/ | devançâtes /də.vɑ̃.sat/ | devancèrent /də.vɑ̃.sɛʁ/ | |
| future | devancerai /də.vɑ̃.sʁe/ | devanceras /də.vɑ̃.sʁa/ | devancera /də.vɑ̃.sʁa/ | devancerons /də.vɑ̃.sʁɔ̃/ | devancerez /də.vɑ̃.sʁe/ | devanceront /də.vɑ̃.sʁɔ̃/ | |
| conditional | devancerais /də.vɑ̃.sʁɛ/ | devancerais /də.vɑ̃.sʁɛ/ | devancerait /də.vɑ̃.sʁɛ/ | devancerions /də.vɑ̃.sə.ʁjɔ̃/ | devanceriez /də.vɑ̃.sə.ʁje/ | devanceraient /də.vɑ̃.sʁɛ/ | |
| (compound tenses) | present perfect | present indicative of avoir + past participle | |||||
| pluperfect | imperfect indicative of avoir + past participle | ||||||
| past anterior2 | past historic of avoir + past participle | ||||||
| future perfect | future of avoir + past participle | ||||||
| conditional perfect | conditional of avoir + past participle | ||||||
| subjunctive | que je (j’) | que tu | qu’il, qu’elle | que nous | que vous | qu’ils, qu’elles | |
| (simple tenses) | present | devance /də.vɑ̃s/ | devances /də.vɑ̃s/ | devance /də.vɑ̃s/ | devancions /də.vɑ̃.sjɔ̃/ | devanciez /də.vɑ̃.sje/ | devancent /də.vɑ̃s/ |
| imperfect2 | devançasse /də.vɑ̃.sas/ | devançasses /də.vɑ̃.sas/ | devançât /də.vɑ̃.sa/ | devançassions /də.vɑ̃.sa.sjɔ̃/ | devançassiez /də.vɑ̃.sa.sje/ | devançassent /də.vɑ̃.sas/ | |
| (compound tenses) | past | present subjunctive of avoir + past participle | |||||
| pluperfect2 | imperfect subjunctive of avoir + past participle | ||||||
| imperative | – | – | – | ||||
| simple | — | devance /də.vɑ̃s/ | — | devançons /də.vɑ̃.sɔ̃/ | devancez /də.vɑ̃.se/ | — | |
| compound | — | simple imperative of avoir + past participle | — | simple imperative of avoir + past participle | simple imperative of avoir + past participle | — | |
| 1 The French gerund is usable only with the preposition en. | |||||||
2 In less formal writing or speech, these tenses may be found to have been replaced in the following way:
(Christopher Kendris [1995], Master the Basics: French, pp. 77, 78, 79, 81). | |||||||
Related terms
- devancement
- devancier
Further reading
- “devancer”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.