entraîner

Entraîner is a French verb with several related meanings, centered on movement, training, and effect. The primary sense is to train or to coach someone or oneself, especially in sport or skill development. It can also mean to drag or pull something or someone physically, and figuratively to cause, bring about, or entail consequences.

Originating from the prefix en- (in, into) and the verb traîner (to drag), entrainer originally conveyed pulling someone along and later extended to the sense of bringing someone into a process of training. The noun entrainement denotes training or practice, while the past participle entrainé is used in compound tenses.

Transitive use commonly expresses training others: le coach entraîne l'équipe. The reflexive form s'entraîner means to train oneself or to practice regularly: elle s'entraîne chaque matin. Figuratively, entrainer can mean to entail or bring about: Cette décision entraîne des coûts importants; le programme entraîne des améliorations notables. The verb can also indicate physical dragging when used with objects: le vent entraîne les feuilles.

Entraîner is a regular -er verb; present tense uses standard endings: j’entraîne, tu entraînes, il entraîne, nous entraînons, vous entraînez, ils entraînent. The past participle is entraîné, used with auxiliary avoir to form compound tenses. The noun entrainement means training or practice.

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