adoucir

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French[edit]

Etymology[edit]

Inherited from Old French adolcir, from dolz, douz (“sweet”), from Latin dulcis (“sweet”). By surface analysis, a- +‎ doux +‎ -ir.

Pronunciation[edit]

  • IPA(key): /a.du.siʁ/
  • Audio(file)
  • Rhymes: -iʁ

Verb[edit]

adoucir

  1. (transitive) (of foods, flavors, scents, etc.) to sweeten
    La sauce est trop salée ; je vais l’adoucir un peu. ― The sauce is too salty; I'll sweeten it a bit.
  2. (transitive; figurative) (of any unpleasant thing) to make (more) agreeable, pleasant, mild, delicate, etc.
    adoucir la douleur ― to soften the pain
  3. (transitive) (of something physically rough or coarse) to soften, to smooth
  4. (transitive) (of water) to soften
    Il existe plusieurs méthodes pour adoucir l’eau. ― Several methods exist for softening water.
  5. (transitive; figurative) to soften, to make more delicate; (of colors, as in visual arts like painting) to lighten, to brighten
  6. (transitive; figuratively) to appease; to calm; to make less angry or aggressive
  7. (takes a reflexive pronoun) to become sweeter; to become milder
  8. (takes a reflexive pronoun; figurative) to become more pleasant or agreeable

Conjugation[edit]

This is a regular verb of the second conjugation, like finir, choisir, and most other verbs with infinitives ending in -ir. One salient feature of this conjugation is the repeated appearance of the infix -iss-.

Conjugation of adoucir (see also Appendix:French verbs)
infinitive simple adoucir
compound avoir + past participle
present participle or gerund1 simple adoucissant
/a.du.si.sɑ̃/
compound ayant + past participle
past participle adouci
/a.du.si/
singular plural
first second third first second third
indicative je (j’) tu il, elle, on nous vous ils, elles
(simple
tenses) 		present adoucis
/a.du.si/ 		adoucis
/a.du.si/ 		adoucit
/a.du.si/ 		adoucissons
/a.du.si.sɔ̃/ 		adoucissez
/a.du.si.se/ 		adoucissent
/a.du.sis/
imperfect adoucissais
/a.du.si.sɛ/ 		adoucissais
/a.du.si.sɛ/ 		adoucissait
/a.du.si.sɛ/ 		adoucissions
/a.du.si.sjɔ̃/ 		adoucissiez
/a.du.si.sje/ 		adoucissaient
/a.du.si.sɛ/
past historic2 adoucis
/a.du.si/ 		adoucis
/a.du.si/ 		adoucit
/a.du.si/ 		adoucîmes
/a.du.sim/ 		adoucîtes
/a.du.sit/ 		adoucirent
/a.du.siʁ/
future adoucirai
/a.du.si.ʁe/ 		adouciras
/a.du.si.ʁa/ 		adoucira
/a.du.si.ʁa/ 		adoucirons
/a.du.si.ʁɔ̃/ 		adoucirez
/a.du.si.ʁe/ 		adouciront
/a.du.si.ʁɔ̃/
conditional adoucirais
/a.du.si.ʁɛ/ 		adoucirais
/a.du.si.ʁɛ/ 		adoucirait
/a.du.si.ʁɛ/ 		adoucirions
/a.du.si.ʁjɔ̃/ 		adouciriez
/a.du.si.ʁje/ 		adouciraient
/a.du.si.ʁɛ/
(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 adoucisse
/a.du.sis/ 		adoucisses
/a.du.sis/ 		adoucisse
/a.du.sis/ 		adoucissions
/a.du.si.sjɔ̃/ 		adoucissiez
/a.du.si.sje/ 		adoucissent
/a.du.sis/
imperfect2 adoucisse
/a.du.sis/ 		adoucisses
/a.du.sis/ 		adoucît
/a.du.si/ 		adoucissions
/a.du.si.sjɔ̃/ 		adoucissiez
/a.du.si.sje/ 		adoucissent
/a.du.sis/
(compound
tenses) 		past present subjunctive of avoir + past participle
pluperfect2 imperfect subjunctive of avoir + past participle
imperative – tu – nous vous –
simple — adoucis
/a.du.si/ 		— adoucissons
/a.du.si.sɔ̃/ 		adoucissez
/a.du.si.se/ 		—
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[edit]

Further reading[edit]

Anagrams[edit]

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