enfoncer

French

Etymology

From en- ‎ fond ‎ -er.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ɑ̃.fɔ̃.se/

• Audio:

  (file)

Verb

enfoncer

1. (transitive) to push in, to press in, to drive in
2. (transitive) to break open, to break down
   • 1846, Louis Reybaud, Jérôme Paturot‎^[1]:

     Ouvrez, ou j’enfonce la porte.

     Open up, or I'll break down the door.

3. (transitive) to defeat, to thrash
4. (intransitive) to sink down
5. (reflexive, s'enfoncer) to bury oneself; to immerse oneself
6. (reflexive, s'enfoncer) to go into the heart (of a region, country etc.)
7. (reflexive, s'enfoncer) to give in; to yield (before power)

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 enfoncer (see also Appendix:French verbs)

infinitive	simple	enfoncer
	compound	avoir past participle
present participle or gerund1	simple	enfonçant /ɑ̃.fɔ̃.sɑ̃/
	compound	ayant past participle
past participle		enfoncé /ɑ̃.fɔ̃.se/
		singular			plural
		first	second	third	first	second	third
indicative		je (j’)	tu	il, elle, on	nous	vous	ils, elles
(simple tenses)	present	enfonce /ɑ̃.fɔ̃s/	enfonces /ɑ̃.fɔ̃s/	enfonce /ɑ̃.fɔ̃s/	enfonçons /ɑ̃.fɔ̃.sɔ̃/	enfoncez /ɑ̃.fɔ̃.se/	enfoncent /ɑ̃.fɔ̃s/
	imperfect	enfonçais /ɑ̃.fɔ̃.sɛ/	enfonçais /ɑ̃.fɔ̃.sɛ/	enfonçait /ɑ̃.fɔ̃.sɛ/	enfoncions /ɑ̃.fɔ̃.sjɔ̃/	enfonciez /ɑ̃.fɔ̃.sje/	enfonçaient /ɑ̃.fɔ̃.sɛ/
	past historic2	enfonçai /ɑ̃.fɔ̃.se/	enfonças /ɑ̃.fɔ̃.sa/	enfonça /ɑ̃.fɔ̃.sa/	enfonçâmes /ɑ̃.fɔ̃.sam/	enfonçâtes /ɑ̃.fɔ̃.sat/	enfoncèrent /ɑ̃.fɔ̃.sɛʁ/
	future	enfoncerai /ɑ̃.fɔ̃.sʁe/	enfonceras /ɑ̃.fɔ̃.sʁa/	enfoncera /ɑ̃.fɔ̃.sʁa/	enfoncerons /ɑ̃.fɔ̃.sʁɔ̃/	enfoncerez /ɑ̃.fɔ̃.sʁe/	enfonceront /ɑ̃.fɔ̃.sʁɔ̃/
	conditional	enfoncerais /ɑ̃.fɔ̃.sʁɛ/	enfoncerais /ɑ̃.fɔ̃.sʁɛ/	enfoncerait /ɑ̃.fɔ̃.sʁɛ/	enfoncerions /ɑ̃.fɔ̃.sə.ʁjɔ̃/	enfonceriez /ɑ̃.fɔ̃.sə.ʁje/	enfonceraient /ɑ̃.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	enfonce /ɑ̃.fɔ̃s/	enfonces /ɑ̃.fɔ̃s/	enfonce /ɑ̃.fɔ̃s/	enfoncions /ɑ̃.fɔ̃.sjɔ̃/	enfonciez /ɑ̃.fɔ̃.sje/	enfoncent /ɑ̃.fɔ̃s/
	imperfect2	enfonçasse /ɑ̃.fɔ̃.sas/	enfonçasses /ɑ̃.fɔ̃.sas/	enfonçât /ɑ̃.fɔ̃.sa/	enfonçassions /ɑ̃.fɔ̃.sa.sjɔ̃/	enfonçassiez /ɑ̃.fɔ̃.sa.sje/	enfonçassent /ɑ̃.fɔ̃.sas/
(compound tenses)	past	present subjunctive of avoir past participle
	pluperfect2	imperfect subjunctive of avoir past participle
imperative		–	tu	–	nous	vous	–
simple		—	enfonce /ɑ̃.fɔ̃s/	—	enfonçons /ɑ̃.fɔ̃.sɔ̃/	enfoncez /ɑ̃.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: past historic → present perfect past anterior → pluperfect imperfect subjunctive → present subjunctive pluperfect subjunctive → past subjunctive (Christopher Kendris [1995], Master the Basics: French, pp. 77, 78, 79, 81).

Derived terms

• enfonçage
• enfoncement
• enfoncer des portes ouvertes
• enfoncer le clou
• enfoncer le couteau dans la plaie
• enfoncer une porte ouverte
• enfonçure

 

Further reading

• “enfoncer”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.