achever

French

Etymology

Inherited from Middle French achever, from Old French achever, from Vulgar Latin *accapāre. Compare English achieve.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /aʃ.ve/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Rhymes: -e
• Homophones: achevai, achevé, achevée, achevées, achevés, achevez

Verb

achever

1. (transitive) to finish, to complete
   • 1837, Louis Viardot, L’Ingénieux Hidalgo Don Quichotte de la Manche‎^{fr.Wikisource}, translation of El ingenioso hidalgo Don Quijote de la Mancha by Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra, Chapter II:

     Ayant donc achevé ses préparatifs, il ne voulut pas attendre davantage pour mettre à exécution son projet.

     Having thus completed his preparations, he did not want to wait any longer to put his project into execution.

2. (transitive) to finish off (someone who is already incapacitated)
   • 1920, Maurice Leblanc, chapter III, in Les Dents du tigre‎^{fr.Wikisource}:

     Avec ça qu’elle mettait des gants, elle, pour vous attaquer ! Allons, patron, achevez-la. Une pareille diablesse !

     She had her gloves on to attack you. Come on, boss, finish her off. Such a devil!

3. (reflexive, s'achever) to finish

Usage notes

• False friend of English achieve (more likely to be rendered atteindre (“to attain”) or réaliser (“realize”) in French).

Conjugation

This verb is conjugated like parler, except the -e- /ə/ of the second-to-last syllable becomes -è- /ɛ/ when the next vowel is a silent or schwa -e-, as in the third-person singular present indicative il achève and the third-person singular future indicative il achèvera.

Conjugation of achever (see also Appendix:French verbs)

infinitive	simple	achever
	compound	avoir + past participle
present participle or gerund1	simple	achevant /aʃ.vɑ̃/
	compound	ayant + past participle
past participle		achevé /aʃ.ve/
		singular			plural
		first	second	third	first	second	third
indicative		je (j’)	tu	il, elle, on	nous	vous	ils, elles
(simple tenses)	present	achève /a.ʃɛv/	achèves /a.ʃɛv/	achève /a.ʃɛv/	achevons /aʃ.vɔ̃/	achevez /aʃ.ve/	achèvent /a.ʃɛv/
	imperfect	achevais /aʃ.vɛ/	achevais /aʃ.vɛ/	achevait /aʃ.vɛ/	achevions /a.ʃə.vjɔ̃/	acheviez /a.ʃə.vje/	achevaient /aʃ.vɛ/
	past historic2	achevai /aʃ.ve/	achevas /aʃ.va/	acheva /aʃ.va/	achevâmes /aʃ.vam/	achevâtes /aʃ.vat/	achevèrent /aʃ.vɛʁ/
	future	achèverai /a.ʃɛ.vʁe/ or /a.ʃe.vʁe/	achèveras /a.ʃɛ.vʁa/ or /a.ʃe.vʁa/	achèvera /a.ʃɛ.vʁa/ or /a.ʃe.vʁa/	achèverons /a.ʃɛ.vʁɔ̃/ or /a.ʃe.vʁɔ̃/	achèverez /a.ʃɛ.vʁe/ or /a.ʃe.vʁe/	achèveront /a.ʃɛ.vʁɔ̃/ or /a.ʃe.vʁɔ̃/
	conditional	achèverais /a.ʃɛ.vʁɛ/ or /a.ʃe.vʁɛ/	achèverais /a.ʃɛ.vʁɛ/ or /a.ʃe.vʁɛ/	achèverait /a.ʃɛ.vʁɛ/ or /a.ʃe.vʁɛ/	achèverions /a.ʃɛ.və.ʁjɔ̃/ or /a.ʃe.və.ʁjɔ̃/	achèveriez /a.ʃɛ.və.ʁje/ or /a.ʃe.və.ʁje/	achèveraient /a.ʃɛ.vʁɛ/ or /a.ʃe.vʁɛ/
(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	achève /a.ʃɛv/	achèves /a.ʃɛv/	achève /a.ʃɛv/	achevions /a.ʃə.vjɔ̃/	acheviez /a.ʃə.vje/	achèvent /a.ʃɛv/
	imperfect2	achevasse /aʃ.vas/	achevasses /aʃ.vas/	achevât /aʃ.va/	achevassions /aʃ.va.sjɔ̃/	achevassiez /aʃ.va.sje/	achevassent /aʃ.vas/
(compound tenses)	past	present subjunctive of avoir + past participle
	pluperfect2	imperfect subjunctive of avoir + past participle
imperative		–	tu	–	nous	vous	–
simple		—	achève /a.ʃɛv/	—	achevons /aʃ.vɔ̃/	achevez /aʃ.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 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).

Derived terms

• achevé
• achevé d’imprimer
• achèvement
• inachevé

Related terms

• chef

Further reading

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

Anagrams

• vachère

Middle French

Etymology

From Old French achever, from Vulgar Latin *accapāre.

Verb

achever

1. to finish; to complete

Conjugation

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

Conjugation of achever

infinitive	simple	achever
	compound	avoir + past participle
present participle1 or gerund2	simple	achevant
	compound	present participle or gerund of avoir + past participle
past participle		achevé
		singular			plural
		first	second	third	first	second	third
indicative		ie (i’)	tu	il, elle	nous	vous	ilz, elles
(simple tenses)	present	acheve	acheves	acheve	achevons	achevez	achevent
	imperfect	achevois, achevoys	achevois, achevoys	achevoit, achevoyt	achevions, achevyons	acheviez, achevyez	achevoient, achevoyent
	past historic	acheva	achevas	acheva	achevasmes	achevastes	acheverent
	future	acheverai, acheveray	acheveras	achevera	acheverons	acheverez	acheveront
	conditional	acheverois, acheveroys	acheverois, acheveroys	acheveroit, acheveroyt	acheverions, acheveryons	acheveriez, acheveryez	acheveroient, acheveroyent
(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	acheve	acheves	acheve	achevons	achevez	achevent
	imperfect	achevasse	achevasses	achevast	achevassions	achevassiez	achevassent
(compound tenses)	past	present subjunctive of avoir + past participle
	pluperfect	imperfect subjunctive of avoir + past participle
imperative		–	tu	–	nous	vous	–
simple		—	acheve	—	achevons	achevez	—
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).

Synonyms

• finir

Related terms

• chief (“head”)

Descendants

• French: achever