Seffondrer

Seffondrer, standardly written s’effondrer, is a pronominal French verb meaning to collapse or to fall apart. It can describe a physical collapse, such as a structure giving way, or a figurative collapse, such as a person losing composure or an institution failing. The reflexive form emphasizes that the subject experiences the action.

Usage and nuances: s’effondrer is intransitive and typically used with the auxiliary être in compound tenses. It covers both concrete and abstract collapses, often with adverbs or prepositional phrases to specify the cause or context, e.g., s’effondrer sous le poids, s’effondrer après une déception, s’effondrer économiquement. In everyday language, it can convey sudden ruin or breakdown, from a building failing to an emotional breakdown.

Conjugation overview: Present tense forms include je m’effondre, tu t’effondres, il s’effondre, nous nous effondrons, vous vous effondrez, ils s’effondrent. Passé composé is formed with être: je me suis effondré(e), tu t’es effondré(e), il s’est effondré, elle s’est effondrée, nous nous sommes effondré(e)s, etc. The imperfect is je m’effondrais, tu t’effondrais, il s’effondrait, etc. The verb also has the standard non-reflexive counterpart effondrer, which is transitive and means to cause to fall or to topple something (for example, effondrer un pont).

See also: s’écrouler, un effondrement. S’écrouler is a near synonym often used interchangeably in casual speech, while effondrer remains closer to a formal term for causing an object to fall.