couvrir
French
Etymology
From Old French covrir, inherited from Latin cooperīre, present active infinitive of cooperiō, from co- + operiō.
Pronunciation
Verb
couvrir
Conjugation
This verb is conjugated like ouvrir and offrir. It is conjugated like a regular -er verb in the present and imperfect indicative, present subjunctive, imperative, and present participle; it is conjugated like a regular -ir verb in the infinitive, future indicative, conditional, past historic, and imperfect subjunctive; and its past participle couvert is irregular.
Conjugation of couvrir (see also Appendix:French verbs)
| infinitive | simple | couvrir | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| compound | avoir + past participle | ||||||
| present participle or gerund1 | simple | couvrant /ku.vʁɑ̃/ | |||||
| compound | ayant + past participle | ||||||
| past participle | couvert /ku.vɛʁ/ | ||||||
| singular | plural | ||||||
| first | second | third | first | second | third | ||
| indicative | je (j’) | tu | il, elle, on | nous | vous | ils, elles | |
| (simple tenses) |
present | couvre /kuvʁ/ |
couvres /kuvʁ/ |
couvre /kuvʁ/ |
couvrons /ku.vʁɔ̃/ |
couvrez /ku.vʁe/ |
couvrent /kuvʁ/ |
| imperfect | couvrais /ku.vʁɛ/ |
couvrais /ku.vʁɛ/ |
couvrait /ku.vʁɛ/ |
couvrions /ku.vʁi.jɔ̃/ |
couvriez /ku.vʁi.je/ |
couvraient /ku.vʁɛ/ | |
| past historic2 | couvris /ku.vʁi/ |
couvris /ku.vʁi/ |
couvrit /ku.vʁi/ |
couvrîmes /ku.vʁim/ |
couvrîtes /ku.vʁit/ |
couvrirent /ku.vʁiʁ/ | |
| future | couvrirai /ku.vʁi.ʁe/ |
couvriras /ku.vʁi.ʁa/ |
couvrira /ku.vʁi.ʁa/ |
couvrirons /ku.vʁi.ʁɔ̃/ |
couvrirez /ku.vʁi.ʁe/ |
couvriront /ku.vʁi.ʁɔ̃/ | |
| conditional | couvrirais /ku.vʁi.ʁɛ/ |
couvrirais /ku.vʁi.ʁɛ/ |
couvrirait /ku.vʁi.ʁɛ/ |
couvririons /ku.vʁi.ʁjɔ̃/ |
couvririez /ku.vʁi.ʁje/ |
couvriraient /ku.vʁi.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 | couvre /kuvʁ/ |
couvres /kuvʁ/ |
couvre /kuvʁ/ |
couvrions /ku.vʁi.jɔ̃/ |
couvriez /ku.vʁi.je/ |
couvrent /kuvʁ/ |
| imperfect2 | couvrisse /ku.vʁis/ |
couvrisses /ku.vʁis/ |
couvrît /ku.vʁi/ |
couvrissions /ku.vʁi.sjɔ̃/ |
couvrissiez /ku.vʁi.sje/ |
couvrissent /ku.vʁis/ | |
| (compound tenses) |
past | present subjunctive of avoir + past participle | |||||
| pluperfect2 | imperfect subjunctive of avoir + past participle | ||||||
| imperative | – | – | – | ||||
| simple | — | couvre /kuvʁ/ |
— | couvrons /ku.vʁɔ̃/ |
couvrez /ku.vʁe/ |
— | |
| 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
Descendants
- Esperanto: kovri
Further reading
- “couvrir”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.