L’infinitif Présent (Infinitive Present) Tense Conjugation of the French Verb chiffrer

ByMichael Burns

Introduction to the verb chiffrer

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The English translation of the French verb chiffrer is “to encrypt” or “to code.” The infinitive form is pronounced as “shee-fray.”

Chiffrer comes from the Old French word “chiffre,” meaning “number.” It is derived from the Arabic word “sifr,” which also means “zero” or “empty.”

In everyday French in the l’infinitif présent tense, chiffrer is most often used to refer to the action of converting a message into a secret code or cipher. It can also be used in a more general sense to mean “to encode” or “to calculate.”

Here are three simple examples of chiffrer in the l’infinitif présent tense:

  1. J’ai besoin de chiffrer ce document pour qu’il ne soit pas lu par tout le monde. (I need to encrypt this document so that it’s not readable by everyone.)

  2. Les agents secrets doivent constamment chiffrer leurs messages pour assurer leur sécurité. (Secret agents must constantly encode their messages to ensure their safety.)

  3. Pour résoudre ce problème, il faut d’abord chiffrer les données et les analyser ensuite. (To solve this problem, we first need to code the data and then analyze it.)

Table of the L’infinitif Présent (Infinitive Present) Tense Conjugation of chiffrer

Pronoun Conjugation Example Usage English Translation
je chiffre Je chiffre les données. I encrypt the data.
tu chiffres Tu chiffres le message. You encrypt the message.
il chiffre Il chiffre les fichiers. He encrypts the files.
elle chiffre Elle chiffre ses messages. She encrypts her messages.
on chiffre On chiffre les documents. We encrypt the documents.
nous chiffrons Nous chiffrons le code. We encrypt the code.
vous chiffrez Vous chiffrez les données. You encrypt the data.
ils chiffrent Ils chiffrent leurs emails. They encrypt their emails.
elles chiffrent Elles chiffrent les fichiers. They encrypt the files.

Other Conjugations for Chiffrer.

Le Present (Present Tense) Conjugation of the French Verb chiffrer

Imparfait (Imperfect) Tense Conjugation of the French Verb chiffrer

Passé Simple (Simple Past) Tense Conjugation of the French Verb chiffrer

Passé Composé (Present Perfect) Tense Conjugation of the French Verb chiffrer

Futur Simple (Simple Future) Tense Conjugation of the French Verb chiffrer 

Futur Proche (Near Future) Tense Conjugation of the French Verb chiffrer

Plus-que-parfait (Pluperfect) Tense Conjugation of the French Verb chiffrer 

Passé Antérieur (Past Anterior) Tense Conjugation of the French Verb chiffrer 

Futur Antérieur (Future Anterior) Tense Conjugation of the French Verb chiffrer

Subjonctif Présent (Subjunctive Present) Tense Conjugation of the French Verb chiffrer

Subjonctif Passé (Subjunctive Past) Tense Conjugation of the French Verb chiffrer 

Subjonctif Imparfait (Subjunctive Imperfect) Tense Conjugation of the French Verb chiffrer 

Subjonctif Plus-que-parfait (Subjunctive Pluperfect) Tense Conjugation of the French Verb chiffrer

Conditionnel Présent (Conditional Present) Tense Conjugation of the French Verb chiffrer

Conditionnel Passé (Conditional Past) Tense Conjugation of the French Verb chiffrer 

L’impératif Présent (Imperative Present) Tense Conjugation of the French Verb chiffrer

L’infinitif Présent (Infinitive Present) Tense Conjugation of the French Verb chiffrer  (this article)

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Chiffrer – About the French L’infinitif Présent (Infinitive Present) Tense

BEFORE you continue…. why not take a deep dive into all the French tenses with my article on Mastering French Tense Conjugation.
The French “l’infinitif présent” (Infinitive Present) tense is not a true verb tense in the same way that the present, past, or future tenses are. Instead, it’s the base form of a verb, and it has several important uses and interactions with other tenses.

Forming the Infinitive Present

To form the infinitive present of a verb, you typically take the unconjugated form of the verb (the form you’d find in a French dictionary) and remove the ending. For regular verbs, you remove the -er, -ir, or -re ending, and you’re left with the infinitive. For example:
   – Parler (to speak)
   – Finir (to finish)
   – Vendre (to sell)

Common Everyday Usage Patterns

As a Verb’s Dictionary Form

The most common use of the infinitive present is to represent a verb in its base form. It’s the form you would find in a dictionary or verb conjugation table.

After Modal Verbs

When you use modal verbs like “pouvoir” (can), “vouloir” (want), or “devoir” (must), the verb that follows is in its infinitive form. For example:
     – Je veux manger. (I want to eat.)
     – Il peut parler français. (He can speak French.)

As an Imperative

In informal commands, the infinitive is often used. For example:
     – Ferme la porte. (Close the door.)

In Infinitive Clauses

In complex sentences, especially after certain conjunctions, the infinitive is used to express actions that are separate from the main verb. For example:
     – J’ai besoin de manger avant de partir. (I need to eat before leaving.)

Interactions with Other Tenses

Present Tense

The infinitive present can be used with the present tense to express ongoing actions or habitual actions. For example:
     – J’aime manger des croissants. (I like eating croissants.)

Future Tense

When combined with the future tense of “aller,” the infinitive present can express future actions. For example:
     – Je vais manger au restaurant demain. (I am going to eat at the restaurant tomorrow.)

Conditional Tense

The infinitive present is often used with the conditional to express actions that would happen in a hypothetical situation. For example:

     – Il mangerait s’il avait faim. (He would eat if he were hungry.)

Passé Composé

When forming compound tenses like “passé composé,” the auxiliary verb (être or avoir) is conjugated, and the main verb remains in its infinitive form. For example:
     – J’ai mangé une pomme. (I ate an apple.)
     – Elle est partie. (She left.)

Imperfect Tense

The infinitive present can be combined with the imperfect tense to describe ongoing or habitual actions in the past. For example:
     – Quand j’étais enfant, j’aimais jouer. (When I was a child, I liked to play.)

Subjunctive and Conditional Moods

In some complex sentences, the infinitive can be used with the subjunctive and conditional moods, especially when expressing uncertainty, possibility, or doubt.

Summary

The infinitive present in French serves as the base form of a verb and is used in various contexts, including after modal verbs, in imperative commands, in infinitive clauses, and in combination with other tenses to convey a wide range of meanings and actions. Its flexibility makes it a fundamental part of French grammar.

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