Acquérir or acheter: buying an object, gaining a skill
Acheter means buy; acquérir covers gaining possessions, knowledge and skills. Compare their uses, practise key forms and test your word choice.
In short
Acheter means “to buy”: money changes hands. Acquérir means “to acquire” or “to gain”: it can describe getting an object or developing knowledge and skills. For an everyday purchase, acheter is the usual direct choice.
Yellow the idea to rememberBlue French to learn
Acquérir or acheter: which verb for objects and skills?
acheterto buy
Focus: a purchase
acheter + object
J’ai acheté un dictionnaire pour mes cours.
I bought a dictionary for my classes.
L’entreprise achète de nouveaux ordinateurs.
The company is buying new computers.
acquérirto acquire; to gain
Focus: coming to possess something or developing an ability
acquérir + object / knowledge / skill
Le musée a acquis ce tableau grâce à un don.
The museum acquired this painting through a donation.
Elle a acquis de nouvelles compétences pendant son stage.
She gained new skills during her placement.
In a report, L’entreprise a acquis de nouveaux ordinateurs can describe a purchase in a more formal style. With grâce à un don, the method is a donation. The words around acquérir tell you how the object became part of the collection or equipment.
Things you can buy or acquire
Find:
Buying the book, gaining the knowledge
- Lina
J’ai acheté un manuel avant mon stage.
I bought a textbook before my placement.
- Marc
Et qu’est-ce que tu as appris ?
And what did you learn?
- Lina
J’ai acquis de bonnes bases en comptabilité. Maintenant, je comprends mieux les factures.
I gained a good grounding in accounting. Now I understand invoices better.
The purchase is acheter un manuel. The learning is acquérir de bonnes bases. Useful combinations include acquérir de l’expérience, acquérir des connaissances and acquérir une compétence. English often uses “gain” or “develop” for these.
| Subject | acquérir | acheter |
|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | j’acquiers | j’achète |
| elle | elle acquiert | elle achète |
| nous | nous acquérons | nous achetons |
| ils | ils acquièrent | ils achètent |
Une compétence acquise, des connaissances acquises.
An acquired skill, acquired knowledge.
As an adjective, acquis agrees: acquise is feminine singular; acquises is feminine plural.