Ways to say it
| French | IPA |
|---|---|
| se rendre | |
| capituler | /ka.pi.ty.le/ |
To surrender means to give oneself up into the power of another. The most common way to express this is by using the reflexive verb se rendre. When you want to say you are surrendering to a specific person or an enemy, use the preposition à after the verb, as in se rendre à l'ennemi (to surrender to the enemy). If you are referring to the act of surrendering as a noun, you can use capitulation or reddition.
What does it mean word for word?
The reflexive verb se rendre is composed of the reflexive pronoun se and the verb rendre, which literally means 'to render' or 'to give back'.
Which one should you use?
While se rendre is the general, common way to say one is surrendering or giving oneself up, capituler is specifically used for formal military surrenders or when yielding to certain terms.
Related words
How does it change in a sentence?
When surrendering to a person or an enemy, the verb se rendre is followed by the preposition à.
What mistakes should you avoid?
When using se rendre to mean 'to surrender', be careful not to omit the reflexive pronoun se. English speakers often mistakenly say rendre instead of se rendre.
Did you know?
- In French, se rendre is a polysemous phrase that also means 'to go' to a place. For example, se rendre à la mairie means 'to go to the town hall' rather than to surrender to it.
- The word capituler shares its root with the word 'chapter' because original military surrenders were written as a list of 'chapters' or articles of agreement.
- In a non-military context, capituler is often used colloquially to describe someone giving in to a child's temper tantrum or a partner's persistent request.
Examples in context
- Johnston décida de capituler.Johnston decided to surrender.This sentence shows how to use capituler to express a decision to surrender.Tatoeba #4275048 by mariezou, translation #807055 by Source_VOA
- La garnison fut contrainte de se rendre.The garrison was forced to surrender.This sentence uses se rendre to describe a group being forced to surrender.Tatoeba #486612 by sacredceltic, translation #265892 by CM
- On disait aux soldats de ne jamais se rendre.The soldiers were told never to surrender.This sentence uses se rendre to show an order to never surrender.Tatoeba #12466522 by lbdx, translation #320104 by CK
- Nous demandons aux insurgés de se rendre pacifiquement.We ask the insurgents to surrender peacefully.
- Le général a décidé de capituler face à l'ennemi.The general decided to surrender to the enemy.
- Face à une telle résistance, il a choisi d'abandonner.Faced with such resistance, he chose to surrender.
- 8 more sentences on Tatoeba
Sources
- Wiktionary, “surrender” translations and entries capituler, CC BY-SA 4.0, dump of 2026-09-26.
- Word origins: Wiktionary entries capituler, rendre, se, CC BY-SA 4.0.
- Example sentences: Tatoeba CC BY 2.0 FR.
