Vaincre — to defeat | French Verb Chart

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French Verb Chartlearnfrench.co

Vaincre›to defeat

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Présent (Indicatif)

je vaincsI defeat
tu vaincsyou defeat
il / elle vainche / she defeats
nous vainquonswe defeat
vous vainquezyou defeat
ils / elles vainquentthey defeat

Passé composé (Indicatif)

j’ai vaincuI defeated
tu as vaincuyou defeated
il / elle a vaincuhe / she defeated
nous avons vaincuwe defeated
vous avez vaincuyou defeated
ils / elles ont vaincuthey defeated

Imparfait (Indicatif)

je vainquaisI was defeating
tu vainquaisyou were
il vainquaithe was
nous vainquionswe were
vous vainquiezyou were
ils vainquaientthey were

Futur simple (Indicatif)

je vaincraiI will defeat
tu vaincrasyou will
il vaincrahe will
nous vaincronswe will
vous vaincrezyou will
ils vaincrontthey will

Conditionnel présent

je vaincraisI would defeat
tu vaincraisyou would
il vaincraithe would
nous vaincrionswe would
vous vaincriezyou would
ils vaincraientthey would

Subjonctif présent

que je vainquethat I defeat
que tu vainquesthat you
qu’il vainquethat he
que nous vainquionsthat we
que vous vainquiezthat you
qu’ils vainquentthat they

Impératif, Participe & Infinitif

vaincreinfinitive
vainquantpresent participle
en vainquantgerund (gérondif)
vaincupast participle
vaincs · vainquons · vainquezimperative
avoirauxiliary in compound tenses

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Five phrases with « vaincre » — guess before the reveal. Practise with the free games → Open this short as a page — transcript included →

📘 How to use Vaincre

The rare -cre pattern: c becomes qu in the plural & imperfect (nous vainquons) but stays c in the future (je vaincrai).
Il vainc — no -t! (the third person singular is bare).
Vaincre = to defeat / overcome: vaincre l’ennemi, vaincre sa peur (overcome one’s fear).

🔑 Key forms

Participe passévaincu(e) (avoir)

Gérondifen vainquant

Impératifvaincs ! · vainquons ! · vainquez !

Good to knowFamily: convaincre (to convince). « un vainqueur » = a winner; « être vaincu » = to be defeated.

🔊 Common expressions

Il faut vaincre sa peur.You must overcome your fear.

Notre équipe a vaincu l’adversaire.Our team defeated the opponent.

Rien ne peut nous vaincre !Nothing can defeat us!

Elle a vaincu la maladie.She overcame the illness.

🔊 Example sentences

L’armée a vaincu ses ennemis.The army defeated its enemies.

Nous vainquons nos doutes.We overcome our doubts.

Le champion est difficile à vaincre.The champion is hard to beat.

✍️ Practice

third person singular (no t!): il ___ (vain+c)

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vainc

plural (c→qu): nous ___ (vain+qu)

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vainquons

participle = ___ (-u)

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vaincu

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je ___ (Vaincre — present)

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vaincs

tu ___ (Vaincre — passé composé)

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as vaincu

il ___ (Vaincre — imperfect)

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vainquait

nous ___ (Vaincre — future)

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vaincrons

vous ___ (Vaincre — conditional)

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vaincriez

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Go further: How to learn French verbs — the pattern system.

Vaincre conjugation FAQ

What is the present tense of vaincre?

je vaincs, tu vaincs, il / elle vainc, nous vainquons, vous vainquez, ils / elles vainquent. Full charts for every tense are above, each form with audio.

What is the past participle of vaincre?

vaincu — the passé composé is « j’ai vaincu ». Vaincre uses avoir as its auxiliary verb.

How do you say vaincre in the future tense?

« je vaincrai » — the future stem never changes across persons, only the endings do.

What does vaincre mean in English?

to defeat. It is one of the essential French verbs — drill the present first, then the passé composé; those two tenses carry most conversations.

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