trouver

French

Etymology

From Old French trover, truver, from Vulgar Latin *tropāre, present active infinitive of *tropō, from Latin tropus; confer trope.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /tʁu.ve/

• audio:

  (file)

• Rhymes: -e

Verb

trouver

1. (transitive) to find
2. (transitive) to find/think, as in "to have thoughts regarding/on something".

   Je vous trouve si jolie. ― I think you're so pretty.

3. (reflexive, se trouver) to find oneself
4. (reflexive, se trouver) To be found, to be situated, to be

   La boulangerie se trouve en face du cinéma. ― The bakery is [found] opposite the cinema.

Conjugation

Conjugation of trouver (see also Appendix:French verbs)

infinitive	simple	trouver
	compound	avoir + past participle
present participle or gerund1	simple	trouvant /tʁu.vɑ̃/
	compound	ayant + past participle
past participle		trouvé /tʁu.ve/
		singular			plural
		first	second	third	first	second	third
indicative		je (j’)	tu	il, elle, on	nous	vous	ils, elles
(simple tenses)	present	trouve /tʁuv/2	trouves /tʁuv/	trouve /tʁuv/	trouvons /tʁu.vɔ̃/	trouvez /tʁu.ve/	trouvent /tʁuv/
	imperfect	trouvais /tʁu.vɛ/	trouvais /tʁu.vɛ/	trouvait /tʁu.vɛ/	trouvions /tʁu.vjɔ̃/	trouviez /tʁu.vje/	trouvaient /tʁu.vɛ/
	past historic3	trouvai /tʁu.ve/	trouvas /tʁu.va/	trouva /tʁu.va/	trouvâmes /tʁu.vam/	trouvâtes /tʁu.vat/	trouvèrent /tʁu.vɛʁ/
	future	trouverai /tʁu.vʁe/	trouveras /tʁu.vʁa/	trouvera /tʁu.vʁa/	trouverons /tʁu.vʁɔ̃/	trouverez /tʁu.vʁe/	trouveront /tʁu.vʁɔ̃/
	conditional	trouverais /tʁu.vʁɛ/	trouverais /tʁu.vʁɛ/	trouverait /tʁu.vʁɛ/	trouverions /tʁu.və.ʁjɔ̃/	trouveriez /tʁu.və.ʁje/	trouveraient /tʁu.vʁɛ/
(compound tenses)	present perfect	present indicative of avoir + past participle
	pluperfect	imperfect indicative of avoir + past participle
	past anterior3	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	trouve /tʁuv/2	trouves /tʁuv/	trouve /tʁuv/	trouvions /tʁu.vjɔ̃/	trouviez /tʁu.vje/	trouvent /tʁuv/
	imperfect3	trouvasse /tʁu.vas/	trouvasses /tʁu.vas/	trouvât /tʁu.va/	trouvassions /tʁu.va.sjɔ̃/	trouvassiez /tʁu.va.sje/	trouvassent /tʁu.vas/
(compound tenses)	past	present subjunctive of avoir + past participle
	pluperfect3	imperfect subjunctive of avoir + past participle
imperative		–	tu	–	nous	vous	–
simple		—	trouve /tʁuv/	—	trouvons /tʁu.vɔ̃/	trouvez /tʁu.ve/	—
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 trouvé when inverted.
3 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

• trouveur

Further reading

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

Anagrams

• rouvert

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Middle French

Etymology

From Old French trover, truver, from Vulgar Latin *tropāre, present active infinitive of *tropō, from Latin tropus.

Verb

trouver

1. to find

Conjugation

• Middle French conjugation varies from one text to another. Hence, the following conjugation should be considered as typical, not as exhaustive.

Conjugation of trouver

infinitive	simple	trouver
	compound	avoir + past participle
present participle1 or gerund2	simple	trouvant
	compound	present participle or gerund of avoir + past participle
past participle		trouvé
		singular			plural
		first	second	third	first	second	third
indicative		ie (i’)	tu	il, elle	nous	vous	ilz, elles
(simple tenses)	present	trouve	trouves	trouve	trouvons	trouvez	trouvent
	imperfect	trouvois, trouvoys	trouvois, trouvoys	trouvoit, trouvoyt	trouvions, trouvyons	trouviez, trouvyez	trouvoient, trouvoyent
	past historic	trouva	trouvas	trouva	trouvasmes	trouvastes	trouverent
	future	trouverai, trouveray	trouveras	trouvera	trouverons	trouverez	trouveront
	conditional	trouverois, trouveroys	trouverois, trouveroys	trouveroit, trouveroyt	trouverions, trouveryons	trouveriez, trouveryez	trouveroient, trouveroyent
(compound tenses)	present perfect	present indicative of avoir + past participle
	pluperfect	imperfect indicative of avoir + past participle
	past anterior	past historic of avoir + past participle
	future perfect	future of avoir + past participle
	conditional perfect	conditional of avoir + past participle
subjunctive		que ie (i’)	que tu	qu’il, qu’elle	que nous	que vous	qu’ilz, qu’elles
(simple tenses)	present	trouve	trouves	trouve	trouvons	trouvez	trouvent
	imperfect	trouvasse	trouvasses	trouvast	trouvassions	trouvassiez	trouvassent
(compound tenses)	past	present subjunctive of avoir + past participle
	pluperfect	imperfect subjunctive of avoir + past participle
imperative		–	tu	–	nous	vous	–
simple		—	trouve	—	trouvons	trouvez	—
compound		—	simple imperative of avoir + past participle	—	simple imperative of avoir + past participle	simple imperative of avoir + past participle	—
1 The present participle was variable in gender and number until the 17th century (Anne Sancier-Château [1995], Une esthétique nouvelle: Honoré d'Urfé, correcteur de l'Astrée, p. 179). The French Academy would eventually declare it not to be declined in 1679.
2 The gerund was held to be invariable by grammarians of the early 17th century, and was usable with preposition en, as in Modern French, although the preposition was not mandatory (Anne Sancier-Château [1995], op. cit., p. 180).

Descendants

• French: trouver

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Norman

Alternative forms

• trouvaïr (Guernsey)

Etymology

From Old French trover, truver, from Vulgar Latin *tropāre, present active infinitive of *tropō, from Latin tropus.

Pronunciation

• Audio (Jersey):

  (file)

Verb

trouver (gerund trouv'thie)

1. (Jersey) to find

Antonyms

• cachi (“to hide”)

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Picard

Etymology

From Old French trover, truver, from Vulgar Latin *tropāre, present active infinitive of *tropō, from Latin tropus.

Verb

trouver

1. to find