tomber

French

Etymology

From Middle French tomber, from Old French tomber, tumber, tumer (“to dance, jump, tumble”), from Frankish *tūmōn (“to rotate, reel, sway”), from Proto-Germanic *tūmōną (“to turn, rotate”), of uncertain origin. Cognate with Old High German tūmōn (“to rotate, turn round”), Old Norse tumba (“to fall, tumble”), Old English tumbian (“to dance about, leap, tumble”). More at tumb.

Pronunciation

• IPA: /tɔ̃be/, X-SAMPA: /tO~be/
• Rhymes: -e

• audio

  (file)

Verb

tomber

1. to fall

Conjugation

   Conjugation of tomber (see also Appendix:French verbs)

		simple			compound
infinitive		tomber			être tombé
gerund		en tombant			en étant tombé
present participle		tombant
past participle		tombé
person		singular			plural
		first	second	third	first	second	third
indicative		je (j’)	tu	il	nous	vous	ils
simple tenses	present	tombe	tombes	tombe	tombons	tombez	tombent
	imperfect	tombais	tombais	tombait	tombions	tombiez	tombaient
	past historic1	tombai	tombas	tomba	tombâmes	tombâtes	tombèrent
	future	tomberai	tomberas	tombera	tomberons	tomberez	tomberont
	conditional	tomberais	tomberais	tomberait	tomberions	tomberiez	tomberaient
compound tenses	present perfect	Use the present tense of être followed by the past participle
	pluperfect	Use the imperfect tense of être followed by the past participle
	past anterior1	Use the past historic tense of être followed by the past participle
	future perfect	Use the future tense of être followed by the past participle
	conditional perfect	Use the conditional tense of être followed by the past participle
subjunctive		que je (j’)	que tu	qu’il	que nous	que vous	qu’ils
simple tenses	present	tombe	tombes	tombe	tombions	tombiez	tombent
	imperfect1	tombasse	tombasses	tombât	tombassions	tombassiez	tombassent
compound tenses	past	Use the present subjunctive of être followed by the past participle
	pluperfect1	Use the imperfect subjunctive of être followed by the past participle
imperative		–	tu	–	nous	vous	–
		—	tombe	—	tombons	tombez	—
1literary tenses

Derived terms

• tomber sur
• tomber sur le nez

Anagrams

• trombe

References

• etymology

---

Middle French

Alternative forms

• tumber

Verb

tomber

1. to fall

Conjugation

   Conjugation of tomber

		simple			compound
infinitive		tomber			estre tombé
gerund		en tombant			Use the gerund of estre followed by the past participle
present participle		tombant
past participle		tombé
person		singular			plural
		first	second	third	first	second	third
indicative		je (may be j' before a vowel)	tu	il	nous	vous	ils, elles
simple tenses	present	tombe	tombes	tombe	tombons	tombez	tombent
	imperfect	tombois, tomboys	tombois, tomboys	tomboit, tomboyt	tombions, tombyons	tombiez, tombyez	tomboient, tomboyent
	past historic	tomba	tombas	tomba	tombasmes	tombastes	tomberent
	future	tomberai, tomberay	tomberas	tombera	tomberons	tomberez	tomberont
	conditional	tomberois, tomberoys	tomberois, tomberoys	tomberoit, tomberoyt	tomberions, tomberyons	tomberiez, tomberyez	tomberoient, tomberoyent
compound tenses	present perfect	Use the present tense of estre followed by the past participle
	pluperfect	Use the imperfect tense of estre followed by the past participle
	past anterior	Use the past historic tense of estre followed by the past participle
	future perfect	Use the future tense of estre followed by the past participle
	conditional perfect	Use the conditional tense of estre followed by the past participle
subjunctive		que je	que tu	qu'il	que nous	que vous	qu'ils, qu'elles
simple tenses	present	tombe	tombes	tombe	tombons	tombez	tombent
	imperfect	tombasse	tombasses	tombast	tombassions	tombassiez	tombassent
compound tenses	past	Use the present subjunctive of estre followed by the past participle
	pluperfect	Use the imperfect subjunctive of estre followed by the past participle
imperative		–	tu	–	nous	vous	–
		—	tombe	—	tombons	tombez	—