embûcher

See also: embucher

French

Alternative forms

• embucher (post-1990 spelling)

Etymology

Inherited from Vulgar Latin *imboscāre, from in + boscus (“wood, woods”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ɑ̃.by.ʃe/

• Audio:

  (file)

Verb

embûcher

1. (of an animal) to make enter its lair
2. (dated) to ambush

Conjugation

Conjugation of embûcher (see also Appendix:French verbs)

infinitive	simple	embûcher
	compound	avoir + past participle
present participle or gerund1	simple	embûchant /ɑ̃.by.ʃɑ̃/
	compound	ayant + past participle
past participle		embûché /ɑ̃.by.ʃe/
		singular			plural
		first	second	third	first	second	third
indicative		je (j’)	tu	il, elle, on	nous	vous	ils, elles
(simple tenses)	present	embûche /ɑ̃.byʃ/	embûches /ɑ̃.byʃ/	embûche /ɑ̃.byʃ/	embûchons /ɑ̃.by.ʃɔ̃/	embûchez /ɑ̃.by.ʃe/	embûchent /ɑ̃.byʃ/
	imperfect	embûchais /ɑ̃.by.ʃɛ/	embûchais /ɑ̃.by.ʃɛ/	embûchait /ɑ̃.by.ʃɛ/	embûchions /ɑ̃.by.ʃjɔ̃/	embûchiez /ɑ̃.by.ʃje/	embûchaient /ɑ̃.by.ʃɛ/
	past historic2	embûchai /ɑ̃.by.ʃe/	embûchas /ɑ̃.by.ʃa/	embûcha /ɑ̃.by.ʃa/	embûchâmes /ɑ̃.by.ʃam/	embûchâtes /ɑ̃.by.ʃat/	embûchèrent /ɑ̃.by.ʃɛʁ/
	future	embûcherai /ɑ̃.byʃ.ʁe/	embûcheras /ɑ̃.byʃ.ʁa/	embûchera /ɑ̃.byʃ.ʁa/	embûcherons /ɑ̃.byʃ.ʁɔ̃/	embûcherez /ɑ̃.byʃ.ʁe/	embûcheront /ɑ̃.byʃ.ʁɔ̃/
	conditional	embûcherais /ɑ̃.byʃ.ʁɛ/	embûcherais /ɑ̃.byʃ.ʁɛ/	embûcherait /ɑ̃.byʃ.ʁɛ/	embûcherions /ɑ̃.by.ʃə.ʁjɔ̃/	embûcheriez /ɑ̃.by.ʃə.ʁje/	embûcheraient /ɑ̃.byʃ.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	embûche /ɑ̃.byʃ/	embûches /ɑ̃.byʃ/	embûche /ɑ̃.byʃ/	embûchions /ɑ̃.by.ʃjɔ̃/	embûchiez /ɑ̃.by.ʃje/	embûchent /ɑ̃.byʃ/
	imperfect2	embûchasse /ɑ̃.by.ʃas/	embûchasses /ɑ̃.by.ʃas/	embûchât /ɑ̃.by.ʃa/	embûchassions /ɑ̃.by.ʃa.sjɔ̃/	embûchassiez /ɑ̃.by.ʃa.sje/	embûchassent /ɑ̃.by.ʃas/
(compound tenses)	past	present subjunctive of avoir + past participle
	pluperfect2	imperfect subjunctive of avoir + past participle
imperative		–	tu	–	nous	vous	–
simple		—	embûche /ɑ̃.byʃ/	—	embûchons /ɑ̃.by.ʃɔ̃/	embûchez /ɑ̃.by.ʃe/	—
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).

Further reading

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