entraînées

Entraînées is the feminine plural form of the past participle entraîné, from the verb entraîner. In contemporary French, the term functions both as an adjective meaning “trained” or “skilled” and as the past participle used in compound tenses. The verb itself comes from en- plus traîner (to drag, to pull), with the sense developing from a physical act of pulling someone along to the figurative sense of training someone or conditioning them through practice.

Usage and agreement

As an adjective, entraîné/entraînée/entraînés/entraînées agrees in gender and number with the noun it modifies. For example, des chiens entraînés (masculine plural), des athlètes entraînées (feminine plural). When entraîné is used as part of a passive or perfect construction with the auxiliary avoir, it agrees with a preceding direct object. For instance, les joueuses que j’ai entraînées ont gagné (the players I trained have won). With the auxiliary être, the participle agrees with the subject: elles ont été entraînées.

Contexts

The form entraînées most commonly appears in sports, education, and animal training, where it denotes that the subject has undergone training. It is also used in broader contexts to describe someone who has been trained in a skill or discipline. The corresponding masculine singular and plural forms are entraîné (masculine) and entraînés (masculine plural); the feminine singular is entraînée, and the noun entraine ment is related as the process or activity of training.

Related terms

The related noun is entraînement, meaning training or drill. The contrast with simple teaching is expressed by the adjective forms: entraîné/entraînée emphasize completion of training rather than the act of teaching itself.