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Verb conjugation

caver

to dig; to mine

Usage

A rare, mostly archaic verb with specialized senses that have survived in dictionaries: in old card games like brelan, to stake or bet a sum of money, and in fencing, caver le corps means to pull the body back and down during a lunge. Neither sense is current everyday French.

Examples
  • Dans ce jeu de cartes ancien, il fallait caver une mise conséquente. — In this old card game, you had to stake a substantial sum.
  • L'escrimeur cave le corps pour esquiver l'attaque. — The fencer withdraws his body to dodge the attack.
  • Les joueurs cavaient parfois toute leur fortune sur une seule main. — Players would sometimes stake their entire fortune on a single hand.
Common mistake

This verb is archaic outside fencing and historical card-game writing — for ordinary betting today, miser is the everyday word, not caver.

Simple tenses

Present

jecave
tucaves
il/ellecave
nouscavons
vouscavez
ils/ellescavent

Imperfect

jecavais
tucavais
il/ellecavait
nouscavions
vouscaviez
ils/ellescavaient

Past historic (passé simple)

jecavai
tucavas
il/ellecava
nouscavâmes
vouscavâtes
ils/ellescavèrent

Future

jecaverai
tucaveras
il/ellecavera
nouscaverons
vouscaverez
ils/ellescaveront

Conditional

jecaverais
tucaverais
il/ellecaverait
nouscaverions
vouscaveriez
ils/ellescaveraient

Subjunctive

jecave
tucaves
il/ellecave
nouscavions
vouscaviez
ils/ellescavent

Subjunctive (imperfect)

jecavasse
tucavasses
il/ellecavât
nouscavassions
vouscavassiez
ils/ellescavassent

Imperative

tucave
nouscavons
vouscavez

Compound tenses

Passé composé

jeai cavé
tuas cavé
il/ellea cavé
nousavons cavé
vousavez cavé
ils/ellesont cavé

Plus-que-parfait

jeavais cavé
tuavais cavé
il/elleavait cavé
nousavions cavé
vousaviez cavé
ils/ellesavaient cavé

Passé antérieur

jeeus cavé
tueus cavé
il/elleeut cavé
nouseûmes cavé
vouseûtes cavé
ils/elleseurent cavé

Futur antérieur

jeaurai cavé
tuauras cavé
il/elleaura cavé
nousaurons cavé
vousaurez cavé
ils/ellesauront cavé

Conditionnel passé

jeaurais cavé
tuaurais cavé
il/elleaurait cavé
nousaurions cavé
vousauriez cavé
ils/ellesauraient cavé

Subjonctif passé

jeaie cavé
tuaies cavé
il/elleait cavé
nousayons cavé
vousayez cavé
ils/ellesaient cavé

Subjonctif plus-que-parfait

jeeusse cavé
tueusses cavé
il/elleeût cavé
nouseussions cavé
vouseussiez cavé
ils/elleseussent cavé

Impératif passé

tuaie cavé
nousayons cavé
vousayez cavé

Other

Present participle

cavant

Past participle

cavé

Infinitive

caver

Want to practice? Try a conjugation exercise.

Frequently asked questions

What does "caver" mean?

"caver" means "to dig; to mine".

How do you conjugate "caver" in the present tense?

The present of "caver" is: je cave, tu caves, il/elle cave, nous cavons, vous cavez, ils/elles cavent.

What is the Passé composé of "caver"?

The passé composé of "caver" is: je ai cavé, tu as cavé, il/elle a cavé, nous avons cavé, vous avez cavé, ils/elles ont cavé.

What is the Imperative of "caver"?

The imperative of "caver" is: tu cave, nous cavons, vous cavez.

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