fouir

See also: fo-ùir

French

Etymology

From Vulgar Latin *fodīre, from Latin fodere.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /fwiʁ/

• Audio

  (file)

Verb

fouir

1. (transitive) to dig, grub, burrow

Conjugation

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 fouir (see also Appendix:French verbs)

infinitive	simple	fouir
	compound	avoir + past participle
present participle or gerund1	simple	fouissant /fwi.sɑ̃/
	compound	ayant + past participle
past participle		foui /fwi/
		singular			plural
		first	second	third	first	second	third
indicative		je (j’)	tu	il, elle, on	nous	vous	ils, elles
(simple tenses)	present	fouis /fwi/	fouis /fwi/	fouit /fwi/	fouissons /fwi.sɔ̃/	fouissez /fwi.se/	fouissent /fwis/
	imperfect	fouissais /fwi.sɛ/	fouissais /fwi.sɛ/	fouissait /fwi.sɛ/	fouissions /fwi.sjɔ̃/	fouissiez /fwi.sje/	fouissaient /fwi.sɛ/
	past historic2	fouis /fwi/	fouis /fwi/	fouit /fwi/	fouîmes /fwim/	fouîtes /fwit/	fouirent /fwiʁ/
	future	fouirai /fwi.ʁe/	fouiras /fwi.ʁa/	fouira /fwi.ʁa/	fouirons /fwi.ʁɔ̃/	fouirez /fwi.ʁe/	fouiront /fwi.ʁɔ̃/
	conditional	fouirais /fwi.ʁɛ/	fouirais /fwi.ʁɛ/	fouirait /fwi.ʁɛ/	fouirions /fwi.ʁjɔ̃/	fouiriez /fwi.ʁje/	fouiraient /fwi.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	fouisse /fwis/	fouisses /fwis/	fouisse /fwis/	fouissions /fwi.sjɔ̃/	fouissiez /fwi.sje/	fouissent /fwis/
	imperfect2	fouisse /fwis/	fouisses /fwis/	fouît /fwi/	fouissions /fwi.sjɔ̃/	fouissiez /fwi.sje/	fouissent /fwis/
(compound tenses)	past	present subjunctive of avoir + past participle
	pluperfect2	imperfect subjunctive of avoir + past participle
imperative		–	tu	–	nous	vous	–
simple		—	fouis /fwi/	—	fouissons /fwi.sɔ̃/	fouissez /fwi.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).

Related terms

• enfouir

Further reading

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

Old French

Etymology

From Vulgar Latin *fodīre, from Latin fodere, present active infinitive of fodiō.

Verb

fouir

1. Alternative form of foïr

Conjugation

This verb conjugates as a third-group or second-group verb (ending in -ir, without or with an -iss- infix). This verb has a distinct stressed present stem, as well as other irregularities. Old French conjugation varies significantly by date and by region. The following conjugation should be treated as a guide.

    Conjugation of fouir (see also Appendix:Old French verbs)

		simple			compound
infinitive		fouir			avoir fouï
gerund		en fouant, fouïssant			gerund of avoir + past participle
present participle		fouant, fouïssant
past participle		fouï
person		singular			plural
		first	second	third	first	second	third
indicative		jo	tu	il	nos	vos	il
simple tenses	present	fue, fouïs	fues, fouïs	fuet, fouïst	fouons, fouïssons	fouez, fouïssez	fueent, fouïssent
	imperfect	fouoie, foueie, fouïssoie, fouïsseie	fouoies, foueies, fouïssoies, fouïsseies	fouoit, foueit, fouïssoit, fouïsseit	fouïiens, fouïens, fouïssiiens, fouïssiens	fouïiez, fouïez, fouïssiiez, fouïssiez	fouoient, foueient, fouïssoient, fouïsseient
	preterite	fouï	fouïs	fouï	fouïmes	fouïstes	fouïrent
	future	fourrai, fouïrai	fourras, fouïras	fourra, fouïra	fourrons, fouïrons	fourroiz, fourreiz, fourrez, fouïroiz, fouïreiz, fouïrez	fourront, fouïront
	conditional	fourroie, fourreie, fouïroie, fouïreie	fourroies, fourreies, fouïroies, fouïreies	fourroit, fourreit, fouïroit, fouïreit	fourriiens, fourriens, fouïriiens, fouïriens	fourriiez, fourriez, fouïriiez, fouïriez	fourroient, fourreient, fouïroient, fouïreient
compound tenses	present perfect	present tense of avoir + past participle
	pluperfect	imperfect tense of avoir + past participle
	past anterior	preterite tense of avoir + past participle
	future perfect	future tense of avoir + past participle
	conditional perfect	conditional tense of avoir + past participle
subjunctive		que jo	que tu	qu’il	que nos	que vos	qu’il
simple tenses	present	fuee, fouïsse	fuees, fouïsses	fuee, fouïsse	fouons, fouïssons	fouez, fouïssez	fueent, fouïssent
	imperfect	fouïsse	fouïsses	fouïst	fouïssons, fouïssiens	fouïssoiz, fouïssez, fouïssiez	fouïssent
compound tenses	past	present subjunctive of avoir + past participle
	pluperfect	imperfect subjunctive of avoir + past participle
imperative		–	tu	–	nos	vos	–
		—	fue, fouïs	—	fouons, fouïssons	fouez, fouïssez	—

Further reading

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