retourner

French

Etymology

Inherited from Old French retorner, from re- + torner; morphologically, from re- +‎ tourner.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ʁə.tuʁ.ne/

• audio

  (file)

Verb

retourner

1. (transitive) to turn over, turn upside-down; (in cooking) to turn

   J’ai retourné le livre pour en voir le prix.

   I turned the book over to see the price of it.

2. (transitive) to toss (salad), turn over (earth, soil)

   Retournez la salade avant de la servir.

   Toss the salad before serving it.

3. (transitive) to return, send back (an object)

   Il faut que vous retourniez le document.

   You need to return the document.

4. (intransitive) to return, go back (to/from a place)

   Quand y êtes-vous retourné(e)(s) ?

   When did you go back there?

5. (intransitive) to return, revert (à to) (a state etc)
6. (takes a reflexive pronoun) to turn over; to overturn, capsize
7. (takes a reflexive pronoun) to turn round (turn one's head)
8. (takes a reflexive pronoun) to be reversed, be turned round (of a situation etc.)
9. (takes a reflexive pronoun) to get organised

Usage notes

• This verb uses the auxiliary verb avoir when used transitively (or with a transitive sense, even when the complement is omitted); otherwise (when it is intransitive), it uses être.

  elle est retournée chez elle ― she went back to her house

  elle a retourné sa chaise ― she turned her chair over

Conjugation

Conjugation of retourner (see also Appendix:French verbs)

infinitive	simple	retourner
	compound	avoir or être + past participle
present participle or gerund1	simple	retournant /ʁə.tuʁ.nɑ̃/
	compound	ayant or étant + past participle
past participle		retourné /ʁə.tuʁ.ne/
		singular			plural
		first	second	third	first	second	third
indicative		je (j’)	tu	il, elle, on	nous	vous	ils, elles
(simple tenses)	present	retourne /ʁə.tuʁn/	retournes /ʁə.tuʁn/	retourne /ʁə.tuʁn/	retournons /ʁə.tuʁ.nɔ̃/	retournez /ʁə.tuʁ.ne/	retournent /ʁə.tuʁn/
	imperfect	retournais /ʁə.tuʁ.nɛ/	retournais /ʁə.tuʁ.nɛ/	retournait /ʁə.tuʁ.nɛ/	retournions /ʁə.tuʁ.njɔ̃/	retourniez /ʁə.tuʁ.nje/	retournaient /ʁə.tuʁ.nɛ/
	past historic2	retournai /ʁə.tuʁ.ne/	retournas /ʁə.tuʁ.na/	retourna /ʁə.tuʁ.na/	retournâmes /ʁə.tuʁ.nam/	retournâtes /ʁə.tuʁ.nat/	retournèrent /ʁə.tuʁ.nɛʁ/
	future	retournerai /ʁə.tuʁ.nə.ʁe/	retourneras /ʁə.tuʁ.nə.ʁa/	retournera /ʁə.tuʁ.nə.ʁa/	retournerons /ʁə.tuʁ.nə.ʁɔ̃/	retournerez /ʁə.tuʁ.nə.ʁe/	retourneront /ʁə.tuʁ.nə.ʁɔ̃/
	conditional	retournerais /ʁə.tuʁ.nə.ʁɛ/	retournerais /ʁə.tuʁ.nə.ʁɛ/	retournerait /ʁə.tuʁ.nə.ʁɛ/	retournerions /ʁə.tuʁ.nə.ʁjɔ̃/	retourneriez /ʁə.tuʁ.nə.ʁje/	retourneraient /ʁə.tuʁ.nə.ʁɛ/
(compound tenses)	present perfect	present indicative of avoir or être + past participle
	pluperfect	imperfect indicative of avoir or être + past participle
	past anterior2	past historic of avoir or être + past participle
	future perfect	future of avoir or être + past participle
	conditional perfect	conditional of avoir or être + past participle
subjunctive		que je (j’)	que tu	qu’il, qu’elle	que nous	que vous	qu’ils, qu’elles
(simple tenses)	present	retourne /ʁə.tuʁn/	retournes /ʁə.tuʁn/	retourne /ʁə.tuʁn/	retournions /ʁə.tuʁ.njɔ̃/	retourniez /ʁə.tuʁ.nje/	retournent /ʁə.tuʁn/
	imperfect2	retournasse /ʁə.tuʁ.nas/	retournasses /ʁə.tuʁ.nas/	retournât /ʁə.tuʁ.na/	retournassions /ʁə.tuʁ.na.sjɔ̃/	retournassiez /ʁə.tuʁ.na.sje/	retournassent /ʁə.tuʁ.nas/
(compound tenses)	past	present subjunctive of avoir or être + past participle
	pluperfect2	imperfect subjunctive of avoir or être + past participle
imperative		–	tu	–	nous	vous	–
simple		—	retourne /ʁə.tuʁn/	—	retournons /ʁə.tuʁ.nɔ̃/	retournez /ʁə.tuʁ.ne/	—
compound		—	simple imperative of avoir or être + past participle	—	simple imperative of avoir or être + past participle	simple imperative of avoir or être + 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

• retourner sa veste
• retourner sa chemise
• se retourner dans sa tombe

Further reading

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

Middle French

Verb

retourner

1. to return; to come back

Conjugation

• Middle French conjugation varies from one text to another. Hence, the following conjugation should be considered as typical, not as exhaustive.

Conjugation of retourner

infinitive	simple	retourner
	compound	estre + past participle
present participle1 or gerund2	simple	retournant
	compound	present participle or gerund of estre + past participle
past participle		retourné
		singular			plural
		first	second	third	first	second	third
indicative		ie (i’)	tu	il, elle	nous	vous	ilz, elles
(simple tenses)	present	retourne	retournes	retourne	retournons	retournez	retournent
	imperfect	retournois, retournoys	retournois, retournoys	retournoit, retournoyt	retournions, retournyons	retourniez, retournyez	retournoient, retournoyent
	past historic	retourna	retournas	retourna	retournasmes	retournastes	retournerent
	future	retournerai, retourneray	retourneras	retournera	retournerons	retournerez	retourneront
	conditional	retournerois, retourneroys	retournerois, retourneroys	retourneroit, retourneroyt	retournerions, retourneryons	retourneriez, retourneryez	retourneroient, retourneroyent
(compound tenses)	present perfect	present indicative of estre + past participle
	pluperfect	imperfect indicative of estre + past participle
	past anterior	past historic of estre + past participle
	future perfect	future of estre + past participle
	conditional perfect	conditional of estre + past participle
subjunctive		que ie (i’)	que tu	qu’il, qu’elle	que nous	que vous	qu’ilz, qu’elles
(simple tenses)	present	retourne	retournes	retourne	retournons	retournez	retournent
	imperfect	retournasse	retournasses	retournast	retournassions	retournassiez	retournassent
(compound tenses)	past	present subjunctive of estre + past participle
	pluperfect	imperfect subjunctive of estre + past participle
imperative		–	tu	–	nous	vous	–
simple		—	retourne	—	retournons	retournez	—
compound		—	simple imperative of estre + past participle	—	simple imperative of estre + past participle	simple imperative of estre + past participle	—
1 The present participle was variable in gender and number until the 17th century (Anne Sancier-Château [1995], Une esthétique nouvelle: Honoré d'Urfé, correcteur de l'Astrée, p. 179). The French Academy would eventually declare it not to be declined in 1679.
2 The gerund was held to be invariable by grammarians of the early 17th century, and was usable with preposition en, as in Modern French, although the preposition was not mandatory (Anne Sancier-Château [1995], op. cit., p. 180).

Old French

Verb

retourner

1. Alternative form of retorner

Conjugation

This verb conjugates as a first-group verb ending in -er. The forms that would normally end in *-rns, *-rnt are modified to rz, rt. Old French conjugation varies significantly by date and by region. The following conjugation should be treated as a guide.

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

		simple			compound
infinitive		retourner			avoir retourné
gerund		en retournant			gerund of avoir + past participle
present participle		retournant
past participle		retourné
person		singular			plural
		first	second	third	first	second	third
indicative		jo	tu	il	nos	vos	il
simple tenses	present	retourn	retournes	retourne	retournons	retournez	retournent
	imperfect	retournoie, retourneie, retournoe, retourneve	retournoies, retourneies, retournoes, retourneves	retournoit, retourneit, retournot, retourneve	retourniiens, retourniens	retourniiez, retourniez	retournoient, retourneient, retournoent, retournevent
	preterite	retournai	retournas	retourna	retournames	retournastes	retournerent
	future	retournerai	retourneras	retournera	retournerons	retourneroiz, retournereiz, retournerez	retourneront
	conditional	retourneroie, retournereie	retourneroies, retournereies	retourneroit, retournereit	retourneriiens, retourneriens	retourneriiez, retourneriez	retourneroient, retournereient
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	retourn	retourz	retourt	retournons	retournez	retournent
	imperfect	retournasse	retournasses	retournast	retournissons, retournissiens	retournissoiz, retournissez, retournissiez	retournassent
compound tenses	past	present subjunctive of avoir + past participle
	pluperfect	imperfect subjunctive of avoir + past participle
imperative		–	tu	–	nos	vos	–
		—	retourne	—	retournons	retournez	—