disparaître
/dis.pa.ʁɛtʁ/
To disappear in French is disparaître.
It is an intransitive verb, which means it does not take a direct object.
Meaning: to vanish (verb)
How does it change in a sentence?
In the third-person singular present indicative, the form is disparaît. To form compound tenses like the passé composé, use the past participle disparu.
How do you pronounce it?
The word has 3 syllables and is pronounced /dis.pa.ʁɛtʁ/.
Did you know?
- The circumflex accent on the 'i' in disparaît is a remnant of a vanished 's' from Old French, marking a literal disappearance of a letter over centuries.
- In French, if someone 'disappears' from a conversation or a social circle by ignoring others, they might be described as faire le mort, which literally means 'to play dead'.
- If you want to say something 'disappeared' suddenly, you might use the verb s'évanouir, which is more commonly used for a person fainting or losing consciousness.
Examples in context
- Je ne vais pas disparaître.I'm not going to disappear.This sentence shows the use of disparaître in a future context.Tatoeba #5684361 by Yemana, translation #4879975 by CK
- Je veux simplement disparaître.I just want to disappear.This sentence shows the use of disparaître to express a desire.Tatoeba #5565861 by sacredceltic, translation #2342587 by Hybrid
- Mon argent semble disparaître à la fin du mois.My money seems to disappear by the end of the month.This sentence shows the use of disparaître regarding the loss of money.Tatoeba #1052680 by sacredceltic, translation #680701 by Source_VOA
- Les preuves se sont volatilisées avant que nous puissions les récupérer.The evidence disappeared before we could retrieve it.
- Il est parti en fumée sans laisser de trace.He disappeared without a trace.
- 13 more sentences on Tatoeba
Example conversation
Chloé and Nathan are in a park looking for a lost ball.
- ChloéLe ballon semble disparaître dans les buissons.The ball seems to disappear into the bushes.
- NathanIl peut disparaître si on ne fait pas attention.It can disappear if we aren't careful.
- ChloéNathan, regarde, il vient de disparaître derrière l'arbre !Nathan, look, it just disappeared behind the tree!
- NathanC'est étrange de voir un objet disparaître ainsi.It is strange to see an object disappear like that.
Sources
- Wiktionary, “disappear” translations and entries disparaître, CC BY-SA 4.0, dump of 2026-09-26.
- Example sentences: Tatoeba CC BY 2.0 FR.
