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.