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

Introduction to the verb fainéanter

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The English translation of the French verb fainéanter is “to laze around/to be lazy.” It is pronounced as “feh-nay-ahn-teh.”

The word fainéanter comes from the French word “fainéant,” which means “lazy.” It is derived from the Old French word “fainéant,” which comes from the Latin word “facere” (to do) and the Old French word “néant” (nothing). In everyday French, fainéanter is used in the infinitive present tense to describe someone who is being lazy or not doing anything productive.

Examples:

  1. Je n’aime pas quand tu fainéantes toute la journée. (I don’t like it when you laze around all day.)
  2. Nous devrions sortir plutôt que de fainéanter à la maison. (We should go out instead of lazing around at home.)
  3. Est-ce que tu vas fainéanter encore longtemps ou vas-tu enfin te mettre au travail? (Are you going to keep lazing around or will you finally start working?)

English translations:

  1. I don’t like it when you’re being lazy all day.
  2. We should go out instead of being lazy at home.
  3. Are you going to keep lazing around or will you finally start working?

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

Pronoun Conjugation Example Usage English Translation
je fainéante Je fainéante à la maison. I loaf at home.
tu fainéantes Tu fainéantes toute la journée. You loaf all day.
il fainéante Il fainéante au travail. He loafs at work.
elle fainéante Elle fainéante en classe. She loafs in class.
on fainéante On fainéante souvent. We loaf often.
nous fainéantons Nous fainéantons ensemble. We loaf together.
vous fainéantez Vous fainéantez pendant les vacances. You loaf during vacations.
ils fainéantent Ils fainéantent au parc. They loaf at the park.
elles fainéantent Elles fainéantent au café. They loaf at the cafe.

Other Conjugations for Fainéanter.

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

Imparfait (Imperfect) Tense Conjugation of the French Verb fainéanter

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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Fainéanter – 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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