achever
French
Etymology
From Middle French achever, from Old French achever, from Vulgar Latin *accapō, *accapāre. Compare Catalan, Occitan, Portuguese, and Spanish acabar and English achieve.
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /aʃ.ve/
Audio (file) - Rhymes: -e
- Homophones: achevai, achevé, achevée, achevées, achevés, achevez
Verb
achever
- (transitive) to finish, to complete
- 1837, Louis Viardot, L’Ingénieux Hidalgo Don Quichotte de la Manchefr.Wikisource, translation of El ingenioso hidalgo Don Quijote de la Mancha by Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra, Chapter II:
- Ayant donc achevé ses préparatifs, il ne voulut pas attendre davantage pour mettre à exécution son projet.
- Having thus completed his preparations, he did not want to wait any longer to put his project into execution.
-
- (transitive) to finish off (someone who is already incapacitated)
- (reflexive, s'achever) to finish
Usage notes
- False friend of English achieve (more likely to be rendered atteindre (“to attain”) or réaliser (“realize”) in French).
Conjugation
This verb is conjugated mostly like the regular -er verbs (parler and chanter and so on), but the -e- /ə/ of the second-to-last syllable becomes -è- /ɛ/ when the next vowel is a silent or schwa -e-. For example, in the third-person singular present indicative, we have il achève rather than *il acheve. Other verbs conjugated this way include lever and mener. Related but distinct conjugations include those of appeler and préférer.
Conjugation of achever (see also Appendix:French verbs)
| infinitive | simple | achever | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| compound | avoir + past participle | ||||||
| present participle or gerund1 | simple | achevant /aʃ.vɑ̃/ | |||||
| compound | ayant + past participle | ||||||
| past participle | achevé /aʃ.ve/ | ||||||
| singular | plural | ||||||
| first | second | third | first | second | third | ||
| indicative | je (j’) | tu | il, elle, on | nous | vous | ils, elles | |
| (simple tenses) | present | achève /a.ʃɛv/ | achèves /a.ʃɛv/ | achève /a.ʃɛv/ | achevons /aʃ.vɔ̃/ | achevez /aʃ.ve/ | achèvent /a.ʃɛv/ |
| imperfect | achevais /aʃ.vɛ/ | achevais /aʃ.vɛ/ | achevait /aʃ.vɛ/ | achevions /a.ʃə.vjɔ̃/ | acheviez /a.ʃə.vje/ | achevaient /aʃ.vɛ/ | |
| past historic2 | achevai /aʃ.ve/ | achevas /aʃ.va/ | acheva /aʃ.va/ | achevâmes /aʃ.vam/ | achevâtes /aʃ.vat/ | achevèrent /aʃ.vɛʁ/ | |
| future | achèverai /a.ʃɛ.vʁe/ or /a.ʃe.vʁe/ | achèveras /a.ʃɛ.vʁa/ or /a.ʃe.vʁa/ | achèvera /a.ʃɛ.vʁa/ or /a.ʃe.vʁa/ | achèverons /a.ʃɛ.vʁɔ̃/ or /a.ʃe.vʁɔ̃/ | achèverez /a.ʃɛ.vʁe/ or /a.ʃe.vʁe/ | achèveront /a.ʃɛ.vʁɔ̃/ or /a.ʃe.vʁɔ̃/ | |
| conditional | achèverais /a.ʃɛ.vʁɛ/ or /a.ʃe.vʁɛ/ | achèverais /a.ʃɛ.vʁɛ/ or /a.ʃe.vʁɛ/ | achèverait /a.ʃɛ.vʁɛ/ or /a.ʃe.vʁɛ/ | achèverions /a.ʃɛ.və.ʁjɔ̃/ or /a.ʃe.və.ʁjɔ̃/ | achèveriez /a.ʃɛ.və.ʁje/ or /a.ʃe.və.ʁje/ | achèveraient /a.ʃɛ.vʁɛ/ or /a.ʃe.vʁɛ/ | |
| (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 | achève /a.ʃɛv/ | achèves /a.ʃɛv/ | achève /a.ʃɛv/ | achevions /a.ʃə.vjɔ̃/ | acheviez /a.ʃə.vje/ | achèvent /a.ʃɛv/ |
| imperfect2 | achevasse /aʃ.vas/ | achevasses /aʃ.vas/ | achevât /aʃ.va/ | achevassions /aʃ.va.sjɔ̃/ | achevassiez /aʃ.va.sje/ | achevassent /aʃ.vas/ | |
| (compound tenses) | past | present subjunctive of avoir + past participle | |||||
| pluperfect2 | imperfect subjunctive of avoir + past participle | ||||||
| imperative | – | – | – | ||||
| simple | — | achève /a.ʃɛv/ | — | achevons /aʃ.vɔ̃/ | achevez /aʃ.ve/ | — | |
| 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
- achevé
- achevé d'imprimer
- achèvement
- inachevé
Related terms
- chef
Further reading
- “achever”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.
Anagrams
- vachère
Middle French
Etymology
From Old French, from Vulgar Latin *accapō, *accapāre.
Verb
achever
- to finish; to complete
Conjugation
- Middle French conjugation varies from one text to another. Hence, the following conjugation should be considered as typical, not as exhaustive.
Conjugation of achever
| infinitive | simple | achever | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| compound | avoir + past participle | ||||||
| present participle1 or gerund2 | simple | achevant | |||||
| compound | present participle or gerund of avoir + past participle | ||||||
| past participle | achevé | ||||||
| singular | plural | ||||||
| first | second | third | first | second | third | ||
| indicative | ie (i’) | tu | il, elle | nous | vous | ilz, elles | |
| (simple tenses) | present | acheve | acheves | acheve | achevons | achevez | achevent |
| imperfect | achevois, achevoys | achevois, achevoys | achevoit, achevoyt | achevions, achevyons | acheviez, achevyez | achevoient, achevoyent | |
| past historic | acheva | achevas | acheva | achevasmes | achevastes | acheverent | |
| future | acheverai, acheveray | acheveras | achevera | acheverons | acheverez | acheveront | |
| conditional | acheverois, acheveroys | acheverois, acheveroys | acheveroit, acheveroyt | acheverions, acheveryons | acheveriez, acheveryez | acheveroient, acheveroyent | |
| (compound tenses) | present perfect | present indicative of avoir + past participle | |||||
| pluperfect | imperfect indicative of avoir + past participle | ||||||
| past anterior | past historic of avoir + past participle | ||||||
| future perfect | future of avoir + past participle | ||||||
| conditional perfect | conditional of avoir + past participle | ||||||
| subjunctive | que ie (i’) | que tu | qu’il, qu’elle | que nous | que vous | qu’ilz, qu’elles | |
| (simple tenses) | present | acheve | acheves | acheve | achevons | achevez | achevent |
| imperfect | achevasse | achevasses | achevast | achevassions | achevassiez | achevassent | |
| (compound tenses) | past | present subjunctive of avoir + past participle | |||||
| pluperfect | imperfect subjunctive of avoir + past participle | ||||||
| imperative | – | – | – | ||||
| simple | — | acheve | — | achevons | achevez | — | |
| compound | — | simple imperative of avoir + past participle | — | simple imperative of avoir + past participle | simple imperative of avoir + past participle | — | |
| 1 The present participle was variable in gender and number until the 17th century (Anne Sancier-Château [1995], Une esthétique nouvelle: Honoré d'Urfé, correcteur de l'Astrée, p. 179). The French Academy would eventually declare it not to be declined in 1679. | |||||||
| 2 The gerund was held to be invariable by grammarians of the early 17th century, and was usable with preposition en, as in Modern French, although the preposition was not mandatory (Anne Sancier-Château [1995], op. cit., p. 180). | |||||||
Synonyms
- finir
Related terms
- chief (“head”)
Descendants
- French: achever