Sétendre

S’étendre is a French pronominal verb that can denote several related actions. It most commonly means to stretch out or extend one’s body, to lie down and relax, or to spread over a surface. It is also used in a figurative sense to indicate that something extends or lasts over a larger area or range, or that a discussion or text dwells at length on a subject.

As a pronominal verb, s’étendre is conjugated with être in the compound tenses and agrees with the subject in gender and number. In the present tense: je m’étends, tu t’étends, il/elle s’étend, nous nous étendons, vous vous étendez, ils/elles s’étendent. The past participle is étendu(e); for example, “je me suis étendu” (masc.) or “je me suis étendue” (fem.). It is used with reflexive pronouns and with prepositions such as sur or à: “Le tapis s’étend sur le sol,” “Elle s’est étendue sur le canapé,” “Le territoire s’étend sur plusieurs pays.”

Origin and nuance: s’étendre derives from the verb étendre, itself from Latin extendere, and was shaped in French to express both physical expansion and the act of lying down or spreading out. The reflexive form emphasizes the subject’s involvement in the action, whether one’s body, a surface, or a topic.

Translations and related usage: English equivalents include to stretch, to lie down, to spread, and to dwell on. Common constructions include s’étendre sur un sujet (to dwell on a subject) and s’étendre sur une période (to extend over a period).