foncer
French
Etymology
From Old French fons, fonz ( > French fond) + -er.
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /fɔ̃.se/
Audio (file) - Rhymes: -e
Verb
foncer
- (transitive, intransitive) to darken
- (intransitive) to tear along (of person, vehicle etc.)
- (intransitive, colloquial) to get a move on, go for it
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 foncer (see also Appendix:French verbs)
| infinitive | simple | foncer | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| compound | avoir + past participle | ||||||
| present participle or gerund1 | simple | fonçant /fɔ̃.sɑ̃/ | |||||
| compound | ayant + past participle | ||||||
| past participle | foncé /fɔ̃.se/ | ||||||
| singular | plural | ||||||
| first | second | third | first | second | third | ||
| indicative | je (j’) | tu | il, elle, on | nous | vous | ils, elles | |
| (simple tenses) | present | fonce /fɔ̃s/ | fonces /fɔ̃s/ | fonce /fɔ̃s/ | fonçons /fɔ̃.sɔ̃/ | foncez /fɔ̃.se/ | foncent /fɔ̃s/ |
| imperfect | fonçais /fɔ̃.sɛ/ | fonçais /fɔ̃.sɛ/ | fonçait /fɔ̃.sɛ/ | foncions /fɔ̃.sjɔ̃/ | fonciez /fɔ̃.sje/ | fonçaient /fɔ̃.sɛ/ | |
| past historic2 | fonçai /fɔ̃.se/ | fonças /fɔ̃.sa/ | fonça /fɔ̃.sa/ | fonçâmes /fɔ̃.sam/ | fonçâtes /fɔ̃.sat/ | foncèrent /fɔ̃.sɛʁ/ | |
| future | foncerai /fɔ̃.sʁe/ | fonceras /fɔ̃.sʁa/ | foncera /fɔ̃.sʁa/ | foncerons /fɔ̃.sʁɔ̃/ | foncerez /fɔ̃.sʁe/ | fonceront /fɔ̃.sʁɔ̃/ | |
| conditional | foncerais /fɔ̃.sʁɛ/ | foncerais /fɔ̃.sʁɛ/ | foncerait /fɔ̃.sʁɛ/ | foncerions /fɔ̃.sə.ʁjɔ̃/ | fonceriez /fɔ̃.sə.ʁje/ | fonceraient /fɔ̃.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 | fonce /fɔ̃s/ | fonces /fɔ̃s/ | fonce /fɔ̃s/ | foncions /fɔ̃.sjɔ̃/ | fonciez /fɔ̃.sje/ | foncent /fɔ̃s/ |
| imperfect2 | fonçasse /fɔ̃.sas/ | fonçasses /fɔ̃.sas/ | fonçât /fɔ̃.sa/ | fonçassions /fɔ̃.sa.sjɔ̃/ | fonçassiez /fɔ̃.sa.sje/ | fonçassent /fɔ̃.sas/ | |
| (compound tenses) | past | present subjunctive of avoir + past participle | |||||
| pluperfect2 | imperfect subjunctive of avoir + past participle | ||||||
| imperative | – | – | – | ||||
| simple | — | fonce /fɔ̃s/ | — | fonçons /fɔ̃.sɔ̃/ | foncez /fɔ̃.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
- foncé
Further reading
- “foncer”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.
Anagrams
- fronce, froncé