devenir

French

Alternative forms

• dev’nir

Etymology

Inherited from Old French devenir, from Latin dēvenīre, from dē + veniō.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /də.v(ə).niʁ/

• Audio:

  (file)

Noun

devenir m (plural devenirs)

1. future

   Synonyms: futur, destin, avenir

Derived terms

• en devenir

Verb

devenir

1. to become
2. (Louisiana, followed by de) to come from

Conjugation

This is a verb in a group of -ir verbs. All verbs ending in -venir, such as convenir and revenir, are conjugated this way. Such verbs are the only verbs whose the past historic and subjunctive imperfect endings do not start in one of these thematic vowels (-a-, -i-, -u-).

Conjugation of devenir (see also Appendix:French verbs)

infinitive	simple	devenir
	compound	être + past participle
present participle or gerund1	simple	devenant /də.v(ə).nɑ̃/
	compound	étant + past participle
past participle		devenu /də.v(ə).ny/
		singular			plural
		first	second	third	first	second	third
indicative		je (j’)	tu	il, elle, on	nous	vous	ils, elles
(simple tenses)	present	deviens /də.vjɛ̃/	deviens /də.vjɛ̃/	devient /də.vjɛ̃/	devenons /də.v(ə).nɔ̃/	devenez /də.v(ə).ne/	deviennent /də.vjɛn/
	imperfect	devenais /də.v(ə).nɛ/	devenais /də.v(ə).nɛ/	devenait /də.v(ə).nɛ/	devenions /də.və.njɔ̃/	deveniez /də.və.nje/	devenaient /də.v(ə).nɛ/
	past historic2	devins /də.vɛ̃/	devins /də.vɛ̃/	devint /də.vɛ̃/	devînmes /də.vɛ̃m/	devîntes /də.vɛ̃t/	devinrent /də.vɛ̃ʁ/
	future	deviendrai /də.vjɛ̃.dʁe/	deviendras /də.vjɛ̃.dʁa/	deviendra /də.vjɛ̃.dʁa/	deviendrons /də.vjɛ̃.dʁɔ̃/	deviendrez /də.vjɛ̃.dʁe/	deviendront /də.vjɛ̃.dʁɔ̃/
	conditional	deviendrais /də.vjɛ̃.dʁɛ/	deviendrais /də.vjɛ̃.dʁɛ/	deviendrait /də.vjɛ̃.dʁɛ/	deviendrions /də.vjɛ̃.dʁi.jɔ̃/	deviendriez /də.vjɛ̃.dʁi.je/	deviendraient /də.vjɛ̃.dʁɛ/
(compound tenses)	present perfect	present indicative of être + past participle
	pluperfect	imperfect indicative of être + past participle
	past anterior2	past historic of être + past participle
	future perfect	future of être + past participle
	conditional perfect	conditional of être + past participle
subjunctive		que je (j’)	que tu	qu’il, qu’elle	que nous	que vous	qu’ils, qu’elles
(simple tenses)	present	devienne /də.vjɛn/	deviennes /də.vjɛn/	devienne /də.vjɛn/	devenions /də.və.njɔ̃/	deveniez /də.və.nje/	deviennent /də.vjɛn/
	imperfect2	devinsse /də.vɛ̃s/	devinsses /də.vɛ̃s/	devînt /də.vɛ̃/	devinssions /də.vɛ̃.sjɔ̃/	devinssiez /də.vɛ̃.sje/	devinssent /də.vɛ̃s/
(compound tenses)	past	present subjunctive of être + past participle
	pluperfect2	imperfect subjunctive of être + past participle
imperative		–	tu	–	nous	vous	–
simple		—	deviens /də.vjɛ̃/	—	devenons /də.v(ə).nɔ̃/	devenez /də.v(ə).ne/	—
compound		—	simple imperative of être + past participle	—	simple imperative of être + past participle	simple imperative of 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

• c’est en forgeant qu’on devient forgeron
• devenir chèvre
• petit poisson deviendra grand

Related terms

• venir

Further reading

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

Anagrams

• deviner
• venir de

Interlingua

Etymology

From French.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /de.veˈnir/

Verb

devenir

1. to become

Conjugation

    Conjugation of devenir

infinitive		devenir
participle		present	perfect
		deveniente	devenite
active		simple	perfect
	present	deveni	ha devenite
	past	deveniva	habeva devenite
	future	devenira	habera devenite
	conditional	devenirea	haberea devenite
	imperative	deveni	—
passive		simple	perfect
	present	es devenite	ha essite devenite
	past	esseva devenite	habeva essite devenite
	future	essera devenite	habera essite devenite
	conditional	esserea devenite	haberea essite devenite
	imperative	sia devenite	—

Old French

Etymology

First known attestation circa 980 as devenguz (nominative masculine singular past participle form). From Latin devenīre.

Verb

devenir

1. to become, to turn into
   • c. 1250, Marie de France, Yonec:

     Chevaliers bels e genz devint.

     He turned into a handsome, noble knight.

Conjugation

This verb conjugates as a third-group verb. This verb has a stressed present stem devien distinct from the unstressed stem deven, 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 devenir (see also Appendix:Old French verbs)

		simple			compound
infinitive		devenir			avoir devenu
gerund		en devenant			gerund of avoir + past participle
present participle		devenant
past participle		devenu
person		singular			plural
		first	second	third	first	second	third
indicative		jo	tu	il	nos	vos	il
simple tenses	present	devieng, devien	deviens	devient	devenons	devenez	devienent
	imperfect	devenoie, deveneie	devenoies, deveneies	devenoit, deveneit	deveniiens, deveniens	deveniiez, deveniez	devenoient, deveneient
	preterite	devin	devenis	devint	devenimes	devenistes	devindrent, devinrent
	future	devendrai	devendras	devendra	devendrons	devendroiz, devendreiz, devendrez	devendront
	conditional	devendroie, devendreie	devendroies, devendreies	devendroit, devendreit	devendriiens, devendriens	devendriiez, devendriez	devendroient, devendreient
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	deviegne	deviegnes	deviegne	deviegniens, deviegnons	deviegniez	deviegnent
	imperfect	devenisse	devenisses	devenist	devenissons, devenissiens	devenissoiz, devenissez, devenissiez	devenissent
compound tenses	past	present subjunctive of avoir + past participle
	pluperfect	imperfect subjunctive of avoir + past participle
imperative		–	tu	–	nos	vos	–
		—	devien	—	devenons	devenez	—

Descendants

• French: devenir

Spanish

Etymology

Borrowed from French devenir.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /debeˈniɾ/ [d̪e.β̞eˈniɾ]
• Rhymes: -iɾ
• Syllabification: de‧ve‧nir

Verb

devenir (first-person singular present devengo, first-person singular preterite devine, past participle devenido)

1. to become
2. to happen

   Synonyms: pasar, suceder, ocurrir

Conjugation

    Conjugation of devenir (irregular; e-ie-i alternation) (See Appendix:Spanish verbs)

infinitive			devenir
gerund			deviniendo
past participle				masculine		feminine
		singular		devenido		devenida
		plural		devenidos		devenidas
		singular			plural
		1st person	2nd person	3rd person	1st person	2nd person	3rd person
indicative		yo	tú vos	él/ella/ello usted	nosotros nosotras	vosotros vosotras	ellos/ellas ustedes
	present	devengo	devienestú devenísvos	deviene	devenimos	devenís	devienen
	imperfect	devenía	devenías	devenía	deveníamos	deveníais	devenían
	preterite	devine	deviniste	devino	devinimos	devinisteis	devinieron
	future	devendré	devendrás	devendrá	devendremos	devendréis	devendrán
	conditional	devendría	devendrías	devendría	devendríamos	devendríais	devendrían
subjunctive		yo	tú vos	él/ella/ello usted	nosotros nosotras	vosotros vosotras	ellos/ellas ustedes
	present	devenga	devengastú devengásvos2	devenga	devengamos	devengáis	devengan
	imperfect (ra)	deviniera	devinieras	deviniera	deviniéramos	devinierais	devinieran
	imperfect (se)	deviniese	devinieses	deviniese	deviniésemos	devinieseis	deviniesen
	future1	deviniere	devinieres	deviniere	deviniéremos	deviniereis	devinieren
imperative		—	tú vos	usted	nosotros nosotras	vosotros vosotras	ustedes
	affirmative		devéntú devenívos	devenga	devengamos	devenid	devengan
	negative		no devengas	no devenga	no devengamos	no devengáis	no devengan

¹Mostly obsolete, now mainly used in legal language.
²Argentine and Uruguayan voseo prefers the tú form for the present subjunctive.

Noun

devenir m (plural devenires)

1. coming, future

Further reading

• “devenir”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), online version 23.8, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 2024 December 10