plonger

Plonger is a French verb meaning to dive, plunge, or immerse. It can be used transitively (to dunk something) or intransitively (to dive into water or to submerge oneself). It is a regular -er verb, with endings that follow the standard pattern for -er verbs. The etymology traces back to Old French plonger, from Latin plungere “to plunge.”

Conjugation highlights:

- Present: je plonge, tu plonges, il/elle plonge, nous plongeons, vous plongez, ils/elles plongent.

- Passé composé: j'ai plongé, tu as plongé, il/elle a plongé, nous avons plongé, vous avez plongé, ils ont plongé. (Transitive uses typically take the auxiliary avoir; intransitive senses of immersion can appear with être in some tenses.)

- Imparfait: plongeais, plongeais, plongeait, plongions, plongiez, plongeaient.

- Futur simple: plongerai, plongeras, plongera, plongerons, plongerez, plongeront.

Usage and senses:

In the context of water activities, la plongée refers to diving, especially scuba diving, and a plongeur (plongeuse for a female diver) is the person who dives. La plongée sous-marine denotes scuba diving, while apnée refers to free diving. The verb also appears in many figurative expressions, such as plonger dans quelque chose (to dive into something) or se plonger dans un livre (to immerse oneself in a book).

Notes:

Plonger is used both for physical immersion and for metaphorical immersion. The related nouns include la plongée (the act of diving), le plongeur/la plongeuse (diver), and la plongée sous-marine (scuba diving). The verb form and meanings are common across French-speaking contexts, including sports, navigation, and everyday language.