retourner

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French

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Etymology

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Inherited from Old French retorner, from re- + torner; morphologically, from re- +‎ tourner.

Pronunciation

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  • IPA(key): /ʁə.tuʁ.ne/
  • Audio:(file)

Verb

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retourner

  1. (transitive) to turn over, turn upside-down; (in cooking) to turn
    J’ai retourné le livre pour en voir le prix.
    I turned the book over to see the price of it.
  2. (transitive) to toss (salad), turn over (earth, soil)
    Retournez la salade avant de la servir.
    Toss the salad before serving it.
  3. (transitive) to return, send back (an object)
    Il faut que vous retourniez le document.
    You need to return the document.
  4. (intransitive) to return, go back (to/from a place)
    Quand y êtes-vous retourné(e)(s) ?
    When did you go back there?
  5. (intransitive) to return, revert (à to) (a state etc)
  6. (pronominal) to turn over; to overturn, capsize
  7. (pronominal) to turn round (turn one's head)
  8. (pronominal) to be reversed, be turned round (of a situation etc.)
  9. (pronominal) to get organised

Usage notes

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  • This verb uses the auxiliary verb avoir when used transitively (or with a transitive sense, even when the complement is omitted); otherwise (when it is intransitive), it uses être.
    elle est retournée chez elleshe went back to her house
    elle a retourné sa chaiseshe turned her chair over

Conjugation

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Derived terms

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Further reading

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Middle French

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Verb

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retourner

  1. to return; to come back

Conjugation

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  • Middle French conjugation varies from one text to another. Hence, the following conjugation should be considered as typical, not as exhaustive.

Old French

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Verb

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retourner

  1. Alternative form of retorner

Conjugation

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This verb conjugates as a first-group verb ending in -er. The forms that would normally end in *-rns, *-rnt are modified to rz, rt. Old French conjugation varies significantly by date and by region. The following conjugation should be treated as a guide.