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Verb drill

Plier or déplier: practise folding and unfolding in French

Edited by Chris Lee · Updated · About the library

Fold a shirt, unfold a map and practise plier and déplier in the present. A short drill also checks pliant, pliée and putting things away.

In short

Plier means to fold or bend; déplier means to unfold something that was folded. Compare je plie la carte and je déplie la carte. To put it away afterwards, add a separate verb: je range la carte.

Yellow the idea to rememberBlue French to learn

An adult folds a plain shirt on a table in a calm French bedroom.
Folding a shirt gives plier a concrete action. Illustration: Atelier

Objects in the routine

Study first: present tense
Subjectplierdéplier
jepliedéplie
tupliesdéplies
il / elle / onpliedéplie
nousplionsdéplions
vouspliezdépliez
ils / ellesplientdéplient

pliant / pliantefolding

Focus: the object’s design

Nous avons une table pliante.
We have a folding table.

plié / pliéefolded

Focus: the object’s state

La table est pliée.
The table is folded.

What is the difference between plier and déplier?

Avant la promenade
  1. Nora

    Je déplie la carte. Tu vois le sentier ?

    I’m unfolding the map. Can you see the path?

  2. Alex

    Oui, il passe près du lac.

    Yes, it goes past the lake.

  3. Nora

    D’accord. Je replie la carte et je la range dans mon sac.

    All right. I’m folding the map up again and putting it in my bag.

Replier adds the idea of folding up again or back. Notice the three actions: déplier, read or use the object, then replier. In the drill, use the present tense for the verb gaps. The final two gaps ask for feminine adjectives: chemise and table are both feminine.

Question 1No account needed
Which action explicitly puts the shirt away?

Choose one answer.

Answer and explanation

Ranger la chemise dans le placard.. Ranger dans le placard names the storage step; folding changes the arrangement.

Question 2No account needed
Choose the sentence about a table designed to fold.

Choose one answer.

Answer and explanation

Cette table est pliante.. Pliante describes a folding design; pliée and dépliée describe states.

1 · Write the present form

  • plier · nous
  • déplier · vous
  • plier · elles
  • déplier · tu

2 · Complete the routine

  1. Je la feuille en deux. (plier · present)
  2. Nous les chaises pour les invités. (déplier · present)
  3. Vous les serviettes après la lessive. (plier · present)
  4. La chemise est déjà . (plié · feminine)
  5. Cette table prend peu de place. (pliant · feminine)

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