contracter
French
Etymology
A learned word created from the root of Latin contractus.
Pronunciation
Verb
contracter
- (transitive) To engage via a formal or informal contract; to contract.
- (transitive) To contract a disease; to develop or acquire a bad habit.
- (transitive) To reduce the volume or size.
- (reflexive) To reduce its own size.
Usage notes
- The volume-related meanings of contract are usually translated with rétracter or recroqueviller, which may refer to pull away or back, whereas contracter is much more global.
Conjugation
Conjugation of contracter (see also Appendix:French verbs)
infinitive | simple | contracter | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
compound | avoir + past participle | ||||||
present participle or gerund1 | simple | contractant /kɔ̃.tʁak.tɑ̃/ | |||||
compound | ayant + past participle | ||||||
past participle | contracté /kɔ̃.tʁak.te/ | ||||||
singular | plural | ||||||
first | second | third | first | second | third | ||
indicative | je (j’) | tu | il, elle, on | nous | vous | ils, elles | |
(simple tenses) |
present | contracte /kɔ̃.tʁakt/ |
contractes /kɔ̃.tʁakt/ |
contracte /kɔ̃.tʁakt/ |
contractons /kɔ̃.tʁak.tɔ̃/ |
contractez /kɔ̃.tʁak.te/ |
contractent /kɔ̃.tʁakt/ |
imperfect | contractais /kɔ̃.tʁak.tɛ/ |
contractais /kɔ̃.tʁak.tɛ/ |
contractait /kɔ̃.tʁak.tɛ/ |
contractions /kɔ̃.tʁak.tjɔ̃/ |
contractiez /kɔ̃.tʁak.tje/ |
contractaient /kɔ̃.tʁak.tɛ/ | |
past historic2 | contractai /kɔ̃.tʁak.te/ |
contractas /kɔ̃.tʁak.ta/ |
contracta /kɔ̃.tʁak.ta/ |
contractâmes /kɔ̃.tʁak.tam/ |
contractâtes /kɔ̃.tʁak.tat/ |
contractèrent /kɔ̃.tʁak.tɛʁ/ | |
future | contracterai /kɔ̃.tʁak.tə.ʁe/ |
contracteras /kɔ̃.tʁak.tə.ʁa/ |
contractera /kɔ̃.tʁak.tə.ʁa/ |
contracterons /kɔ̃.tʁak.tə.ʁɔ̃/ |
contracterez /kɔ̃.tʁak.tə.ʁe/ |
contracteront /kɔ̃.tʁak.tə.ʁɔ̃/ | |
conditional | contracterais /kɔ̃.tʁak.tə.ʁɛ/ |
contracterais /kɔ̃.tʁak.tə.ʁɛ/ |
contracterait /kɔ̃.tʁak.tə.ʁɛ/ |
contracterions /kɔ̃.tʁak.tə.ʁjɔ̃/ |
contracteriez /kɔ̃.tʁak.tə.ʁje/ |
contracteraient /kɔ̃.tʁak.tə.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 | contracte /kɔ̃.tʁakt/ |
contractes /kɔ̃.tʁakt/ |
contracte /kɔ̃.tʁakt/ |
contractions /kɔ̃.tʁak.tjɔ̃/ |
contractiez /kɔ̃.tʁak.tje/ |
contractent /kɔ̃.tʁakt/ |
imperfect2 | contractasse /kɔ̃.tʁak.tas/ |
contractasses /kɔ̃.tʁak.tas/ |
contractât /kɔ̃.tʁak.ta/ |
contractassions /kɔ̃.tʁak.ta.sjɔ̃/ |
contractassiez /kɔ̃.tʁak.ta.sje/ |
contractassent /kɔ̃.tʁak.tas/ | |
(compound tenses) |
past | present subjunctive of avoir + past participle | |||||
pluperfect2 | imperfect subjunctive of avoir + past participle | ||||||
imperative | – | – | – | ||||
simple | — | contracte /kɔ̃.tʁakt/ |
— | contractons /kɔ̃.tʁak.tɔ̃/ |
contractez /kɔ̃.tʁak.te/ |
— | |
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:
(Christopher Kendris [1995], Master the Basics: French, pp. 77, 78, 79, 81). |
Derived terms
Related terms
Further reading
- “contracter”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.