Inherited from Old French veintre, later veincre, vencre, inherited from Latin vincere, from Proto-Italic *winkō, from Proto-Indo-European *wi-n-k-, nasal infix from *weyk- (“to overcome”). The current pronunciation is influenced by the first-person singular indicative present form vincō. Compare also Spanish vencer.
vaincre
This verb is conjugated like vendre, except that its usual stem vainqu- becomes vainc- when either there is no ending, or the ending starts with -u- or a written consonant. Additionally, when inverted the third person singular in the present adds the infix -t-: vainc-t-il? These are strictly spelling changes; pronunciation-wise, the verb is conjugated exactly like vendre.
| infinitive | simple | vaincre | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| compound | avoir + past participle | ||||||
| present participle or gerund1 | simple | vainquant /vɛ̃.kɑ̃/ | |||||
| compound | ayant + past participle | ||||||
| past participle | vaincu /vɛ̃.ky/ | ||||||
| singular | plural | ||||||
| first | second | third | first | second | third | ||
| indicative | je (j’) | tu | il, elle, on | nous | vous | ils, elles | |
| (simple tenses) |
present | vaincs /vɛ̃/ |
vaincs /vɛ̃/ |
vainc /vɛ̃/ |
vainquons /vɛ̃.kɔ̃/ |
vainquez /vɛ̃.ke/ |
vainquent /vɛ̃k/ |
| imperfect | vainquais /vɛ̃.kɛ/ |
vainquais /vɛ̃.kɛ/ |
vainquait /vɛ̃.kɛ/ |
vainquions /vɛ̃.kjɔ̃/ |
vainquiez /vɛ̃.kje/ |
vainquaient /vɛ̃.kɛ/ | |
| past historic2 | vainquis /vɛ̃.ki/ |
vainquis /vɛ̃.ki/ |
vainquit /vɛ̃.ki/ |
vainquîmes /vɛ̃.kim/ |
vainquîtes /vɛ̃.kit/ |
vainquirent /vɛ̃.kiʁ/ | |
| future | vaincrai /vɛ̃.kʁe/ |
vaincras /vɛ̃.kʁa/ |
vaincra /vɛ̃.kʁa/ |
vaincrons /vɛ̃.kʁɔ̃/ |
vaincrez /vɛ̃.kʁe/ |
vaincront /vɛ̃.kʁɔ̃/ | |
| conditional | vaincrais /vɛ̃.kʁɛ/ |
vaincrais /vɛ̃.kʁɛ/ |
vaincrait /vɛ̃.kʁɛ/ |
vaincrions /vɛ̃.kʁi.jɔ̃/ |
vaincriez /vɛ̃.kʁi.je/ |
vaincraient /vɛ̃.kʁɛ/ | |
| (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 | vainque /vɛ̃k/ |
vainques /vɛ̃k/ |
vainque /vɛ̃k/ |
vainquions /vɛ̃.kjɔ̃/ |
vainquiez /vɛ̃.kje/ |
vainquent /vɛ̃k/ |
| imperfect2 | vainquisse /vɛ̃.kis/ |
vainquisses /vɛ̃.kis/ |
vainquît /vɛ̃.ki/ |
vainquissions /vɛ̃.ki.sjɔ̃/ |
vainquissiez /vɛ̃.ki.sje/ |
vainquissent /vɛ̃.kis/ | |
| (compound tenses) |
past | present subjunctive of avoir + past participle | |||||
| pluperfect2 | imperfect subjunctive of avoir + past participle | ||||||
| imperative | – | – | – | ||||
| simple | — | vaincs /vɛ̃/ |
— | vainquons /vɛ̃.kɔ̃/ |
vainquez /vɛ̃.ke/ |
— | |
| 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:
(Christopher Kendris , Master the Basics: French, pp. 77, 78, 79, 81). | |||||||