How to Conjugate the French Verb 'Vaincre' ('to Defeat')

Learn how to say, 'We shall overcome' and other uses of 'vaincre.'

The irregular French verb vaincre means "to beat, defeat, overcome, conquer and overcome." It has an irregular -re conjugation, but it shares the same conjugation with convaincre ("to convince" or "to persuade") and other words with vaincre as their root. Learn how to conjugate vaincre and you'll easily be able to apply that to other verbs with vaincre as their root.

Examples

Here are examples of the everyday use of vaincre:

Nous vaincrons. > We shall overcome.

Les joueurs partaient vaincus d'avance. > The players felt defeated before they began.

Elle a été vaincue par le sommeil/la fatigue. > She was overcome with sleep/exhaustion.

Conjugation of 'Vaincre'

Present

Future

Imperfect

Present participle

je vaincs vaincrai vainquais vainquant
tu vaincs vaincras vainquais
il vainc vaincra vainquait Passé composé
nous vainquons vaincrons vainquions Auxiliary verb avoir
vous vainquez vaincrez vainquiez Past participle vaincu
ils vainquent vaincront vainquaient

Subjunctive

Conditional

Passé simple

Imperfect subjunctive

je vainque vaincrais vainquis vainquisse
tu vainques vaincrais vainquis vainquisses
il vainque vaincrait vainquit vainquît
nous vainquions vaincrions vainquîmes vainquissions
vous vainquiez vaincriez vainquîtes vainquissiez
ils vainquent vaincraient vainquirent vainquissent

Verb conjugation pattern:
Vaincre is an irregular verb and is conjugated
like convaincre.

Imperative

(tu) vaincs
(nous) vainquons
(vous) vainquez
Format
mla apa chicago
Your Citation
Team, ThoughtCo. "How to Conjugate the French Verb 'Vaincre' ('to Defeat')." ThoughtCo, Dec. 6, 2021, thoughtco.com/vaincre-to-defeat-or-conquer-1370997. Team, ThoughtCo. (2021, December 6). How to Conjugate the French Verb 'Vaincre' ('to Defeat'). Retrieved from https://www.thoughtco.com/vaincre-to-defeat-or-conquer-1370997 Team, ThoughtCo. "How to Conjugate the French Verb 'Vaincre' ('to Defeat')." ThoughtCo. https://www.thoughtco.com/vaincre-to-defeat-or-conquer-1370997 (accessed March 29, 2024).