devenir

French

Alternative forms

• dev’nir

Etymology

From Old French devenir, from Latin dēvenīre, present active infinitive of dēveniō, from dē + veniō.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /də.v(ə).niʁ/

• audio:

  (file)

Noun

devenir m (plural devenirs)

1. future

Synonyms

• futur
• destin
• avenir

Verb

devenir

1. to become
2. (Louisiana, followed by de) to come from

Conjugation

This is a verb in a group of -ir verbs. All verbs ending in -venir, such as convenir and revenir, are conjugated this way. Such verbs are the only verbs whose the past historic and subjunctive imperfect endings do not start in one of these thematic vowels (-a-, -i-, -u-).

Conjugation of devenir (see also Appendix:French verbs)

infinitive	simple	devenir
	compound	être + past participle
present participle or gerund1	simple	devenant /də.v(ə).nɑ̃/
	compound	étant + past participle
past participle		devenu /də.v(ə).ny/
		singular			plural
		first	second	third	first	second	third
indicative		je (j’)	tu	il, elle, on	nous	vous	ils, elles
(simple tenses)	present	deviens /də.vjɛ̃/	deviens /də.vjɛ̃/	devient /də.vjɛ̃/	devenons /də.v(ə).nɔ̃/	devenez /də.v(ə).ne/	deviennent /də.vjɛn/
	imperfect	devenais /də.v(ə).nɛ/	devenais /də.v(ə).nɛ/	devenait /də.v(ə).nɛ/	devenions /də.və.njɔ̃/	deveniez /də.və.nje/	devenaient /də.v(ə).nɛ/
	past historic2	devins /də.vɛ̃/	devins /də.vɛ̃/	devint /də.vɛ̃/	devînmes /də.vɛ̃m/	devîntes /də.vɛ̃t/	devinrent /də.vɛ̃ʁ/
	future	deviendrai /də.vjɛ̃.dʁe/	deviendras /də.vjɛ̃.dʁa/	deviendra /də.vjɛ̃.dʁa/	deviendrons /də.vjɛ̃.dʁɔ̃/	deviendrez /də.vjɛ̃.dʁe/	deviendront /də.vjɛ̃.dʁɔ̃/
	conditional	deviendrais /də.vjɛ̃.dʁɛ/	deviendrais /də.vjɛ̃.dʁɛ/	deviendrait /də.vjɛ̃.dʁɛ/	deviendrions /də.vjɛ̃.dʁi.jɔ̃/	deviendriez /də.vjɛ̃.dʁi.je/	deviendraient /də.vjɛ̃.dʁɛ/
(compound tenses)	present perfect	present indicative of être + past participle
	pluperfect	imperfect indicative of être + past participle
	past anterior2	past historic of être + past participle
	future perfect	future of être + past participle
	conditional perfect	conditional of être + past participle
subjunctive		que je (j’)	que tu	qu’il, qu’elle	que nous	que vous	qu’ils, qu’elles
(simple tenses)	present	devienne /də.vjɛn/	deviennes /də.vjɛn/	devienne /də.vjɛn/	devenions /də.və.njɔ̃/	deveniez /də.və.nje/	deviennent /də.vjɛn/
	imperfect2	devinsse /də.vɛ̃s/	devinsses /də.vɛ̃s/	devînt /də.vɛ̃/	devinssions /də.vɛ̃.sjɔ̃/	devinssiez /də.vɛ̃.sje/	devinssent /də.vɛ̃s/
(compound tenses)	past	present subjunctive of être + past participle
	pluperfect2	imperfect subjunctive of être + past participle
imperative		–	tu	–	nous	vous	–
simple		—	deviens /də.vjɛ̃/	—	devenons /də.v(ə).nɔ̃/	devenez /də.v(ə).ne/	—
compound		—	simple imperative of être + past participle	—	simple imperative of être + past participle	simple imperative of être + 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).

Related terms

• venir

Further reading

• “devenir”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.

Anagrams

• deviner
• venir de

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Interlingua

Etymology

From French.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /de.veˈnir/

Verb

devenir

1. to become

Conjugation

    Conjugation of devenir

infinitive		devenir
participle		present	perfect
		deveniente	devenite
active		simple	perfect
	present	deveni	ha devenite
	past	deveniva	habeva devenite
	future	devenira	habera devenite
	conditional	devenirea	haberea devenite
	imperative	deveni
passive		simple	perfect
	present	es devenite	ha essite devenite
	past	esseva devenite	habeva essite devenite
	future	essera devenite	habera essite devenite
	conditional	esserea devenite	haberea essite devenite
	imperative	sia devenite

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Old French

Etymology

First known attestation circa 980 as devenguz (nominative masculine singular past participle form). From Latin devenīre, present active infinitive of deveniō.

Verb

devenir

1. to become
   • circa 1250, Marie de France, Yonec

     Chevaliers bels e genz devint.

     He turned into a handsome, noble knight.

Descendants

• French: devenir

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Spanish

Etymology

Borrowed from French devenir.

Verb

1. to happen

Synonyms

• pasar, suceder, ocurrir