entreprendre

French

Etymology

Inherited from Middle French, from Old French entreprendre (“to begin something, undertake”). By surface analysis, entre +‎ prendre.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ɑ̃.tʁə.pʁɑ̃dʁ/

• Audio:

  (file)

Verb

entreprendre

1. to undertake

Conjugation

This verb is conjugated on the model of prendre. That means it is quite irregular, with the following patterns:

• In the infinitive, in the singular forms of the present indicative, and in the future and the conditional, it is conjugated like rendre, perdre, etc. (sometimes called the regular -re verbs).
• In the plural forms of the present indicative and imperative, in the imperfect indicative, in the present subjunctive, and in the present participle, it is conjugated like appeler or jeter, using the stem entreprenn- before mute 'e' and the stem entrepren- elsewhere.
• In the past participle, and in the past historic and the imperfect subjunctive, its conjugation resembles that of mettre.

Conjugation of entreprendre (see also Appendix:French verbs)

infinitive	simple	entreprendre
	compound	avoir + past participle
present participle or gerund1	simple	entreprenant /ɑ̃.tʁə.pʁə.nɑ̃/
	compound	ayant + past participle
past participle		entrepris /ɑ̃.tʁə.pʁi/
		singular			plural
		first	second	third	first	second	third
indicative		je (j’)	tu	il, elle, on	nous	vous	ils, elles
(simple tenses)	present	entreprends /ɑ̃.tʁə.pʁɑ̃/	entreprends /ɑ̃.tʁə.pʁɑ̃/	entreprend /ɑ̃.tʁə.pʁɑ̃/	entreprenons /ɑ̃.tʁə.pʁə.nɔ̃/	entreprenez /ɑ̃.tʁə.pʁə.ne/	entreprennent /ɑ̃.tʁə.pʁɛn/
	imperfect	entreprenais /ɑ̃.tʁə.pʁə.nɛ/	entreprenais /ɑ̃.tʁə.pʁə.nɛ/	entreprenait /ɑ̃.tʁə.pʁə.nɛ/	entreprenions /ɑ̃.tʁə.pʁə.njɔ̃/	entrepreniez /ɑ̃.tʁə.pʁə.nje/	entreprenaient /ɑ̃.tʁə.pʁə.nɛ/
	past historic2	entrepris /ɑ̃.tʁə.pʁi/	entrepris /ɑ̃.tʁə.pʁi/	entreprit /ɑ̃.tʁə.pʁi/	entreprîmes /ɑ̃.tʁə.pʁim/	entreprîtes /ɑ̃.tʁə.pʁit/	entreprirent /ɑ̃.tʁə.pʁiʁ/
	future	entreprendrai /ɑ̃.tʁə.pʁɑ̃.dʁe/	entreprendras /ɑ̃.tʁə.pʁɑ̃.dʁa/	entreprendra /ɑ̃.tʁə.pʁɑ̃.dʁa/	entreprendrons /ɑ̃.tʁə.pʁɑ̃.dʁɔ̃/	entreprendrez /ɑ̃.tʁə.pʁɑ̃.dʁe/	entreprendront /ɑ̃.tʁə.pʁɑ̃.dʁɔ̃/
	conditional	entreprendrais /ɑ̃.tʁə.pʁɑ̃.dʁɛ/	entreprendrais /ɑ̃.tʁə.pʁɑ̃.dʁɛ/	entreprendrait /ɑ̃.tʁə.pʁɑ̃.dʁɛ/	entreprendrions /ɑ̃.tʁə.pʁɑ̃.dʁi.jɔ̃/	entreprendriez /ɑ̃.tʁə.pʁɑ̃.dʁi.je/	entreprendraient /ɑ̃.tʁə.pʁɑ̃.dʁɛ/
(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	entreprenne /ɑ̃.tʁə.pʁɛn/	entreprennes /ɑ̃.tʁə.pʁɛn/	entreprenne /ɑ̃.tʁə.pʁɛn/	entreprenions /ɑ̃.tʁə.pʁə.njɔ̃/	entrepreniez /ɑ̃.tʁə.pʁə.nje/	entreprennent /ɑ̃.tʁə.pʁɛn/
	imperfect2	entreprisse /ɑ̃.tʁə.pʁis/	entreprisses /ɑ̃.tʁə.pʁis/	entreprît /ɑ̃.tʁə.pʁi/	entreprissions /ɑ̃.tʁə.pʁi.sjɔ̃/	entreprissiez /ɑ̃.tʁə.pʁi.sje/	entreprissent /ɑ̃.tʁə.pʁis/
(compound tenses)	past	present subjunctive of avoir + past participle
	pluperfect2	imperfect subjunctive of avoir + past participle
imperative		–	tu	–	nous	vous	–
simple		—	entreprends /ɑ̃.tʁə.pʁɑ̃/	—	entreprenons /ɑ̃.tʁə.pʁə.nɔ̃/	entreprenez /ɑ̃.tʁə.pʁə.ne/	—
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).

Descendants

• → Polish: przedsiębrać, przedsięwziąć (calque)

Further reading

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

Middle French

Verb

entreprendre

1. to undertake
   • 1552, François Rabelais, Le Tiers Livre:

     Quand les Geantz entreprindrent guerre contre les Dieux

     When the Giants took up war against the Gods

   • 1595, Michel de Montaigne, Essais:

     Il vous siera bien, leur dit-il, de vouloir entreprendre de juger de la teste de celuy, par le moyen duquel vous avez l'authorité de juger de tout le monde.

     (please add an English translation of this quotation)

Old French

Etymology

From entre +‎ prendre, by calque of Frankish *underneman (“to undertake”), from *under (“between, among”) + *neman (“to take”). Compare Old High German untarneman (“undertake”) (German Unternehmen), Old English underniman (“undertake”), Dutch ondernemen (“undertake”).

Verb

entreprendre

1. to capture; to take; to abduct
2. to undertake (a responsibility, etc.)
3. to protect
4. to take (reciprocally)
   • Puis s'entreprendent par les dois

     Then they took each other by the fingers

Conjugation

This verb conjugates as a third-group verb. This verb has irregularities in its conjugation. Old French conjugation varies significantly by date and by region. The following conjugation should be treated as a guide.

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

		simple			compound
infinitive		entreprendre			avoir entrepris
gerund		en entreprenant			gerund of avoir + past participle
present participle		entreprenant
past participle		entrepris
person		singular			plural
		first	second	third	first	second	third
indicative		jo	tu	il	nos	vos	il
simple tenses	present	entrepreing, entrepren	entreprenz	entreprent	entreprenons	entreprenez	entreprenent
	imperfect	entreprenoie, entrepreneie	entreprenoies, entrepreneies	entreprenoit, entrepreneit	entrepreniiens, entrepreniens	entrepreniiez, entrepreniez	entreprenoient, entrepreneient
	preterite	entrepris	entrepreṣis	entreprist	entrepreṣimes	entrepreṣistes	entreprisdrent
	future	entreprendrai	entreprendras	entreprendra	entreprendrons	entreprendroiz, entreprendreiz, entreprendrez	entreprendront
	conditional	entreprendroie, entreprendreie	entreprendroies, entreprendreies	entreprendroit, entreprendreit	entreprendriiens, entreprendriens	entreprendriiez, entreprendriez	entreprendroient, entreprendreient
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	entrepreigne	entrepreignes	entrepreigne	entreprenons, entrepreigniens, entrepreignons	entreprenez, entrepreigniez	entrepreignent
	imperfect	entrepreṣisse	entrepreṣisses	entrepreṣist	entrepreṣissons, entrepreṣissiens	entrepreṣissoiz, entrepreṣissez, entrepreṣissiez	entrepreṣissent
compound tenses	past	present subjunctive of avoir + past participle
	pluperfect	imperfect subjunctive of avoir + past participle
imperative		–	tu	–	nos	vos	–
		—	entrepren	—	entreprenons	entreprenez	—

Descendants

• Middle French: entreprendre
  • English: enterprise (borrowed from Middle French entreprise, from the verb entreprendre)
  • French: entreprendre

References

• Godefroy, Frédéric, Dictionnaire de l’ancienne langue française et de tous ses dialectes du IX^e au XV^e siècle (1881) (entreprendre)