foncer

French

Etymology

From Old French fons, fonz ( > French fond) + -er.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /fɔ̃.se/

• Audio:

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• Audio (France (Agen)):

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• Audio (France (Toulouse)):

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• Audio (France (Vosges)):

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• Rhymes: -e

Verb

foncer

1. (transitive, intransitive) to darken
2. (intransitive) to tear along (of person, vehicle etc.)
3. (intransitive, colloquial) to get a move on, go for it
4. (transitive) to rush at
5. (transitive) to line

   foncer un moule ― to line a mold

6. (transitive) to sink, dig vertically

   Où foncer ce puits ? ― Where should this well be dug?

Conjugation

This verb is part of a group of -er verbs for which 'c' is softened to a 'ç' before the vowels 'a' and 'o'.

Conjugation of foncer (see also Appendix:French verbs)

infinitive	simple	foncer
	compound	avoir + past participle
present participle or gerund1	simple	fonçant /fɔ̃.sɑ̃/
	compound	ayant + past participle
past participle		foncé /fɔ̃.se/
		singular			plural
		first	second	third	first	second	third
indicative		je (j’)	tu	il, elle, on	nous	vous	ils, elles
(simple tenses)	present	fonce /fɔ̃s/	fonces /fɔ̃s/	fonce /fɔ̃s/	fonçons /fɔ̃.sɔ̃/	foncez /fɔ̃.se/	foncent /fɔ̃s/
	imperfect	fonçais /fɔ̃.sɛ/	fonçais /fɔ̃.sɛ/	fonçait /fɔ̃.sɛ/	foncions /fɔ̃.sjɔ̃/	fonciez /fɔ̃.sje/	fonçaient /fɔ̃.sɛ/
	past historic2	fonçai /fɔ̃.se/	fonças /fɔ̃.sa/	fonça /fɔ̃.sa/	fonçâmes /fɔ̃.sam/	fonçâtes /fɔ̃.sat/	foncèrent /fɔ̃.sɛʁ/
	future	foncerai /fɔ̃.sʁe/	fonceras /fɔ̃.sʁa/	foncera /fɔ̃.sʁa/	foncerons /fɔ̃.sʁɔ̃/	foncerez /fɔ̃.sʁe/	fonceront /fɔ̃.sʁɔ̃/
	conditional	foncerais /fɔ̃.sʁɛ/	foncerais /fɔ̃.sʁɛ/	foncerait /fɔ̃.sʁɛ/	foncerions /fɔ̃.sə.ʁjɔ̃/	fonceriez /fɔ̃.sə.ʁje/	fonceraient /fɔ̃.sʁɛ/
(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	fonce /fɔ̃s/	fonces /fɔ̃s/	fonce /fɔ̃s/	foncions /fɔ̃.sjɔ̃/	fonciez /fɔ̃.sje/	foncent /fɔ̃s/
	imperfect2	fonçasse /fɔ̃.sas/	fonçasses /fɔ̃.sas/	fonçât /fɔ̃.sa/	fonçassions /fɔ̃.sa.sjɔ̃/	fonçassiez /fɔ̃.sa.sje/	fonçassent /fɔ̃.sas/
(compound tenses)	past	present subjunctive of avoir + past participle
	pluperfect2	imperfect subjunctive of avoir + past participle
imperative		–	tu	–	nous	vous	–
simple		—	fonce /fɔ̃s/	—	fonçons /fɔ̃.sɔ̃/	foncez /fɔ̃.se/	—
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: 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

• foncé

Further reading

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

Anagrams

• fronce, froncé