couler

French

Etymology

Inherited from Old French, from Latin cōlāre (“filter, strain, purify”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ku.le/

• Audio:

  (file)

Verb

couler

1. (transitive) to sink
2. (transitive) to cast (metal); to pour (liquid)
3. (intransitive) to sink

   Le bateau de croisière MV Explorer a commencé à couler après avoir heurté un iceberg.

4. (intransitive) to flow, to run; to slip, to skid
5. (intransitive) to shed (i.e. shed blood)
6. (intransitive) to go bankrupt
7. (transitive, Quebec) to fail, flunk (a course, test, etc.)

Conjugation

Conjugation of couler (see also Appendix:French verbs)

infinitive	simple	couler
	compound	avoir + past participle
present participle or gerund1	simple	coulant /ku.lɑ̃/
	compound	ayant + past participle
past participle		coulé /ku.le/
		singular			plural
		first	second	third	first	second	third
indicative		je (j’)	tu	il, elle, on	nous	vous	ils, elles
(simple tenses)	present	coule /kul/	coules /kul/	coule /kul/	coulons /ku.lɔ̃/	coulez /ku.le/	coulent /kul/
	imperfect	coulais /ku.lɛ/	coulais /ku.lɛ/	coulait /ku.lɛ/	coulions /ku.ljɔ̃/	couliez /ku.lje/	coulaient /ku.lɛ/
	past historic2	coulai /ku.le/	coulas /ku.la/	coula /ku.la/	coulâmes /ku.lam/	coulâtes /ku.lat/	coulèrent /ku.lɛʁ/
	future	coulerai /kul.ʁe/	couleras /kul.ʁa/	coulera /kul.ʁa/	coulerons /kul.ʁɔ̃/	coulerez /kul.ʁe/	couleront /kul.ʁɔ̃/
	conditional	coulerais /kul.ʁɛ/	coulerais /kul.ʁɛ/	coulerait /kul.ʁɛ/	coulerions /ku.lə.ʁjɔ̃/	couleriez /ku.lə.ʁje/	couleraient /kul.ʁɛ/
(compound tenses)	present perfect	present indicative of avoir + past participle
	pluperfect	imperfect indicative of avoir + past participle
	past anterior2	past historic of avoir + past participle
	future perfect	future of avoir + past participle
	conditional perfect	conditional of avoir + past participle
subjunctive		que je (j’)	que tu	qu’il, qu’elle	que nous	que vous	qu’ils, qu’elles
(simple tenses)	present	coule /kul/	coules /kul/	coule /kul/	coulions /ku.ljɔ̃/	couliez /ku.lje/	coulent /kul/
	imperfect2	coulasse /ku.las/	coulasses /ku.las/	coulât /ku.la/	coulassions /ku.la.sjɔ̃/	coulassiez /ku.la.sje/	coulassent /ku.las/
(compound tenses)	past	present subjunctive of avoir + past participle
	pluperfect2	imperfect subjunctive of avoir + past participle
imperative		–	tu	–	nous	vous	–
simple		—	coule /kul/	—	coulons /ku.lɔ̃/	coulez /ku.le/	—
compound		—	simple imperative of avoir + past participle	—	simple imperative of avoir + past participle	simple imperative of avoir + past participle	—
1 The French gerund is usable only with the preposition en.
2 In less formal writing or speech, these tenses may be found to have been replaced in the following way: past historic → present perfect past anterior → pluperfect imperfect subjunctive → present subjunctive pluperfect subjunctive → past subjunctive (Christopher Kendris [1995], Master the Basics: French, pp. 77, 78, 79, 81).

Derived terms

• coulant
• coulée
• couler à flots
• couler de source
• couler un bronze
• couloir
• écouler
• nœud coulant
• se la couler douce

 

Related terms

• écouler

Further reading

• “couler”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.

Anagrams

• clouer, croule, croulé

Walloon

Etymology

From Old French, from Latin cōlō, cōlare (“filter, strain, purify”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ku.le/

Verb

couler

1. to flow

Conjugation

   —         —   Conjugation of the verb couler in Walloon   —   Codjowaedje do viebe couler e walon

infinitive			couler
gerund			coulant
auxiliary			aveur
past participle				masculine		feminine
		singular		coulé		couleye
		plural		coulés		couleyes
		singular			plural
		1st person	2nd person	3rd person	1st person	2nd person	3rd person
indicative		dji (dj')	ti (t')	i (il) / ele	dji (dj') / nos	vos	i (il)
	present	coule	coules	coule	coulans	coulez	coulnut or coulèt
	imperfect	couléve	couléves	couléve	couléns	coulîz	coulént
	preterit	coula	coulas	coula	coulîs	coulîz	coulît
	future	coulrè	coulrès	coulrè	coulrans	coulroz	coulront
	conditional	coulreu	coulreus	coulreut	coulréns	coulrîz	coulrént
subjunctive		ki dj'	ki t'	k' i (il) / k' ele	ki dj' / ki nos	ki vos	k' i (il)
	present	coule	coules	coule	coulanxhe	couloxhe	coulnuxhe or coulèxhe
	imperfect	coulaxhe	coulaxhes	coulaxhe	coulénxhe	coulîxhe	coulénxhe
imperative		—	ti	—	dji / nos	vos	—
	affirmative		coule!		coulans!	coulez!