Achever

Achever is a French verb meaning to finish, to complete, or to bring to an end. It can denote the completion of an action, a process, or a project, and it can also carry the sense of finishing someone off, depending on context. It is transitive when specifying the target of the action (achever un travail, achever un repas). Intransitively or in the pronominal form, se achever means to come to an end, as in a project that has concluded or a story that has reached its finale.

Conjugation: Achever is regular for an -er verb. Present: j’achève, tu achèves, il achève; nous achevons; vous achevez; ils achèvent. Past tenses: j’ai achevé; imperfect j’achevais; future j’achèverai. Subjunctive: que j’achève; que nous achevions. Participles: achevant (present), achevé (past). The corresponding noun is achèvement, meaning completion or culmination. The related verb parachever means to complete (often in the sense of finalizing or perfecting).

Usage notes: Achever conveys finality and thorough completion more strongly than finir or terminer. In violent contexts, achever someone can mean to finish off, kill. It appears in a wide range of registers from everyday speech to formal writing.

Examples: Elle a achevé son rapport ce matin. Le roman s’achève sur une révélation. Le médecin a dû l’achever pour mettre fin à ses souffrances.

See also: terminer, finir, parachever, achèvement.