évacuer
/e.va.kɥe/
To evacuate in French is évacuer.
The verb évacuer is used to describe moving out of an unsafe location into safety. It can be used transitively to mean evacuating a place (évacuer un lieu) or intransitively to mean people leaving a place (nous devons évacuer).
Meaning: to move out of an unsafe location into safety (verb)
How does it change in a sentence?
évacuer is a regular -er verb. The past participle of évacuer is évacué (evacuated).
How do you pronounce it?
/e.va.kɥe/. It has 3 syllables.
Did you know?
- In French medical contexts, évacuer is often used to describe the body 'clearing' or 'passing' waste, such as bowel movements.
- In certain French idioms, évacuer un sentiment means to 'get something off your chest' or to vent an emotion.
- While évacuer refers to the act of clearing a space, French uses the specific term plan Vigipirate to describe the national security alerts that often trigger these evacuations.
Examples in context
- Il nous faut évacuer.We must evacuate.Tatoeba #4777525 by sacredceltic, translation #2241170 by CK
- Nous devons évacuer le bâtiment.We need to evacuate the building.Tatoeba #8114586 by Aiji, translation #4016824 by CK
- Nous devons évacuer immédiatement.We have to evacuate immediately.Tatoeba #12240131 by Aiji, translation #3312372 by CK
- Nous devons évacuer immédiatementWe must evacuate immediately
- Veuillez vous éloigner de la zone dangereusePlease move away from the dangerous area
- Rendez-vous à la station d'évacuation la plus procheMeet at the nearest evacuation station
- Il faut fuir rapidementWe need to flee quickly
- Évacuez immédiatement!Evacuate immediately!
- 9 more sentences on Tatoeba
Example conversation
Hugo and Léa are in a building during a fire alarm.
- HugoLéa, on doit évacuer tout de suite !Léa, we have to evacuate right now!
- LéaOù est la sortie la plus proche ?Where is the nearest exit?
- HugoC'est par là, suivez le panneau.It's that way, follow the sign.
- LéaD'accord, Hugo, je te suis.Okay, Hugo, I'm following you.
Sources
- Wiktionary, “evacuate” translations and entries évacuer, CC BY-SA 4.0, dump of 2026-09-26.
- Example sentences: Tatoeba CC BY 2.0 FR.
