embellir
French
Etymology
en- + bel + -ir.
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /ɑ̃.bɛ.liʁ/, /ɑ̃.be.liʁ/
Audio (file)
Verb
embellir
- to improve, make more attractive
- to embellish
Conjugation
This is a regular verb of the second conjugation, like finir, choisir, and most other verbs with infinitives ending in -ir. One salient feature of this conjugation is the repeated appearance of the infix -iss-.
Conjugation of embellir (see also Appendix:French verbs)
infinitive | simple | embellir | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
compound | avoir + past participle | ||||||
present participle or gerund1 | simple | embellissant /ɑ̃.bɛ.li.sɑ̃/ or /ɑ̃.be.li.sɑ̃/ | |||||
compound | ayant + past participle | ||||||
past participle | embelli /ɑ̃.bɛ.li/ or /ɑ̃.be.li/ | ||||||
singular | plural | ||||||
first | second | third | first | second | third | ||
indicative | je (j’) | tu | il, elle, on | nous | vous | ils, elles | |
(simple tenses) | present | embellis /ɑ̃.bɛ.li/ or /ɑ̃.be.li/ | embellis /ɑ̃.bɛ.li/ or /ɑ̃.be.li/ | embellit /ɑ̃.bɛ.li/ or /ɑ̃.be.li/ | embellissons /ɑ̃.bɛ.li.sɔ̃/ or /ɑ̃.be.li.sɔ̃/ | embellissez /ɑ̃.bɛ.li.se/ or /ɑ̃.be.li.se/ | embellissent /ɑ̃.bɛ.lis/ or /ɑ̃.be.lis/ |
imperfect | embellissais /ɑ̃.bɛ.li.sɛ/ or /ɑ̃.be.li.sɛ/ | embellissais /ɑ̃.bɛ.li.sɛ/ or /ɑ̃.be.li.sɛ/ | embellissait /ɑ̃.bɛ.li.sɛ/ or /ɑ̃.be.li.sɛ/ | embellissions /ɑ̃.bɛ.li.sjɔ̃/ or /ɑ̃.be.li.sjɔ̃/ | embellissiez /ɑ̃.bɛ.li.sje/ or /ɑ̃.be.li.sje/ | embellissaient /ɑ̃.bɛ.li.sɛ/ or /ɑ̃.be.li.sɛ/ | |
past historic2 | embellis /ɑ̃.bɛ.li/ or /ɑ̃.be.li/ | embellis /ɑ̃.bɛ.li/ or /ɑ̃.be.li/ | embellit /ɑ̃.bɛ.li/ or /ɑ̃.be.li/ | embellîmes /ɑ̃.bɛ.lim/ or /ɑ̃.be.lim/ | embellîtes /ɑ̃.bɛ.lit/ or /ɑ̃.be.lit/ | embellirent /ɑ̃.bɛ.liʁ/ or /ɑ̃.be.liʁ/ | |
future | embellirai /ɑ̃.bɛ.li.ʁe/ or /ɑ̃.be.li.ʁe/ | embelliras /ɑ̃.bɛ.li.ʁa/ or /ɑ̃.be.li.ʁa/ | embellira /ɑ̃.bɛ.li.ʁa/ or /ɑ̃.be.li.ʁa/ | embellirons /ɑ̃.bɛ.li.ʁɔ̃/ or /ɑ̃.be.li.ʁɔ̃/ | embellirez /ɑ̃.bɛ.li.ʁe/ or /ɑ̃.be.li.ʁe/ | embelliront /ɑ̃.bɛ.li.ʁɔ̃/ or /ɑ̃.be.li.ʁɔ̃/ | |
conditional | embellirais /ɑ̃.bɛ.li.ʁɛ/ or /ɑ̃.be.li.ʁɛ/ | embellirais /ɑ̃.bɛ.li.ʁɛ/ or /ɑ̃.be.li.ʁɛ/ | embellirait /ɑ̃.bɛ.li.ʁɛ/ or /ɑ̃.be.li.ʁɛ/ | embellirions /ɑ̃.bɛ.li.ʁjɔ̃/ or /ɑ̃.be.li.ʁjɔ̃/ | embelliriez /ɑ̃.bɛ.li.ʁje/ or /ɑ̃.be.li.ʁje/ | embelliraient /ɑ̃.bɛ.li.ʁɛ/ or /ɑ̃.be.li.ʁɛ/ | |
(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 | embellisse /ɑ̃.bɛ.lis/ or /ɑ̃.be.lis/ | embellisses /ɑ̃.bɛ.lis/ or /ɑ̃.be.lis/ | embellisse /ɑ̃.bɛ.lis/ or /ɑ̃.be.lis/ | embellissions /ɑ̃.bɛ.li.sjɔ̃/ or /ɑ̃.be.li.sjɔ̃/ | embellissiez /ɑ̃.bɛ.li.sje/ or /ɑ̃.be.li.sje/ | embellissent /ɑ̃.bɛ.lis/ or /ɑ̃.be.lis/ |
imperfect2 | embellisse /ɑ̃.bɛ.lis/ or /ɑ̃.be.lis/ | embellisses /ɑ̃.bɛ.lis/ or /ɑ̃.be.lis/ | embellît /ɑ̃.bɛ.li/ or /ɑ̃.be.li/ | embellissions /ɑ̃.bɛ.li.sjɔ̃/ or /ɑ̃.be.li.sjɔ̃/ | embellissiez /ɑ̃.bɛ.li.sje/ or /ɑ̃.be.li.sje/ | embellissent /ɑ̃.bɛ.lis/ or /ɑ̃.be.lis/ | |
(compound tenses) | past | present subjunctive of avoir + past participle | |||||
pluperfect2 | imperfect subjunctive of avoir + past participle | ||||||
imperative | – | – | – | ||||
simple | — | embellis /ɑ̃.bɛ.li/ or /ɑ̃.be.li/ | — | embellissons /ɑ̃.bɛ.li.sɔ̃/ or /ɑ̃.be.li.sɔ̃/ | embellissez /ɑ̃.bɛ.li.se/ or /ɑ̃.be.li.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). |
Derived terms
- embellissement
Further reading
- “embellir”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.
Old French
Alternative forms
- anbelir
- enbelir
Etymology
en- + bel + -ir.
Verb
embellir
- to make prettier; to make more attractive; to embellish
Conjugation
This verb conjugates as a second-group verb (ending in -ir, with an -iss- infix). Old French conjugation varies significantly by date and by region. The following conjugation should be treated as a guide.
Conjugation of embellir (see also Appendix:Old French verbs)
simple | compound | ||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
infinitive | embellir | avoir embelli | |||||
gerund | en embellissant | Use the gerund of avoir followed by the past participle | |||||
present participle | embellissant | ||||||
past participle | embelli | ||||||
person | singular | plural | |||||
first | second | third | first | second | third | ||
indicative | jo | tu | il | nos | vos | il | |
simple tenses | present | embellis | embellis | embellist | embellissons | embellissez | embellissent |
imperfect | embellissoie, embellisseie | embellissoies, embellisseies | embellissoit, embellisseit | embellissiiens, embellissiens | embellissiiez, embellissiez | embellissoient, embellisseient | |
preterite | embelli | embellis | embelli | embellimes | embellistes | embellirent | |
future | embellirai | embelliras | embellira | embellirons | embelliroiz, embellireiz, embellirez | embelliront | |
conditional | embelliroie, embellireie | embelliroies, embellireies | embelliroit, embellireit | embelliriiens, embelliriens | embelliriiez, embelliriez | embelliroient, embellireient | |
compound tenses | present perfect | Use the present tense of avoir followed by the past participle | |||||
pluperfect | Use the imperfect tense of avoir followed by the past participle | ||||||
past anterior | Use the preterite tense of avoir followed by the past participle | ||||||
future perfect | Use the future tense of avoir followed by the past participle | ||||||
conditional perfect | Use the conditional tense of avoir followed by the past participle | ||||||
subjunctive | que jo | que tu | qu’il | que nos | que vos | qu’il | |
simple tenses | present | embellisse | embellisses | embellisse | embellissons | embellissez | embellissent |
imperfect | embellisse | embellisses | embellist | embellissons, embellissiens | embellissoiz, embellissez, embellissiez | embellissent | |
compound tenses | past | Use the present subjunctive of avoir followed by the past participle | |||||
pluperfect | Use the imperfect subjunctive of avoir followed by the past participle | ||||||
imperative | – | tu | – | nos | vos | – | |
— | embellis | — | embellissons | embellissez | — |
Descendants
- → English: embellish
- French: embellir