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Verb conjugation

chiner

to dye and interweave fabrics into cloud motif; to take the piss out of

Usage

Today's most common sense is hunting for bargains or antiques at flea markets and secondhand shops (aimer chiner, chiner aux puces). Older senses survive too: a chiné fabric is one woven or dyed with a mottled, blended-color pattern, and in dated slang chiner quelqu'un means to tease or rib someone.

Examples
  • Le week-end, on aime chiner aux puces de Saint-Ouen.On weekends, we like hunting for bargains at the Saint-Ouen flea market.
  • Elle a chiné une jolie commode ancienne pour trois fois rien.She picked up a lovely antique dresser for next to nothing.
  • Arrête de me chiner, je fais de mon mieux !Stop teasing me, I'm doing my best!
Common mistake

Context decides the meaning here — chiner in a flea-market context means bargain-hunting, but in an older or literary text (or between friends) it can mean gently teasing someone; don't assume the shopping sense is the only one.

Simple tenses

Present

jechine
tuchines
il/ellechine
nouschinons
vouschinez
ils/elleschinent

Imperfect

jechinais
tuchinais
il/ellechinait
nouschinions
vouschiniez
ils/elleschinaient

Past historic (passé simple)

jechinai
tuchinas
il/ellechina
nouschinâmes
vouschinâtes
ils/elleschinèrent

Future

jechinerai
tuchineras
il/ellechinera
nouschinerons
vouschinerez
ils/elleschineront

Conditional

jechinerais
tuchinerais
il/ellechinerait
nouschinerions
vouschineriez
ils/elleschineraient

Subjunctive

jechine
tuchines
il/ellechine
nouschinions
vouschiniez
ils/elleschinent

Subjunctive (imperfect)

jechinasse
tuchinasses
il/ellechinât
nouschinassions
vouschinassiez
ils/elleschinassent

Imperative

tuchine
nouschinons
vouschinez

Compound tenses

Passé composé

jeai chiné
tuas chiné
il/ellea chiné
nousavons chiné
vousavez chiné
ils/ellesont chiné

Plus-que-parfait

jeavais chiné
tuavais chiné
il/elleavait chiné
nousavions chiné
vousaviez chiné
ils/ellesavaient chiné

Passé antérieur

jeeus chiné
tueus chiné
il/elleeut chiné
nouseûmes chiné
vouseûtes chiné
ils/elleseurent chiné

Futur antérieur

jeaurai chiné
tuauras chiné
il/elleaura chiné
nousaurons chiné
vousaurez chiné
ils/ellesauront chiné

Conditionnel passé

jeaurais chiné
tuaurais chiné
il/elleaurait chiné
nousaurions chiné
vousauriez chiné
ils/ellesauraient chiné

Subjonctif passé

jeaie chiné
tuaies chiné
il/elleait chiné
nousayons chiné
vousayez chiné
ils/ellesaient chiné

Subjonctif plus-que-parfait

jeeusse chiné
tueusses chiné
il/elleeût chiné
nouseussions chiné
vouseussiez chiné
ils/elleseussent chiné

Impératif passé

tuaie chiné
nousayons chiné
vousayez chiné

Other

Present participle

chinant

Past participle

chiné

Infinitive

chiner

Want to practice? Try a conjugation exercise.

Frequently asked questions

What does "chiner" mean?

"chiner" means "to dye and interweave fabrics into cloud motif; to take the piss out of".

How do you conjugate "chiner" in the present tense?

The present of "chiner" is: je chine, tu chines, il/elle chine, nous chinons, vous chinez, ils/elles chinent.

What is the Passé composé of "chiner"?

The passé composé of "chiner" is: je ai chiné, tu as chiné, il/elle a chiné, nous avons chiné, vous avez chiné, ils/elles ont chiné.

What is the Imperative of "chiner"?

The imperative of "chiner" is: tu chine, nous chinons, vous chinez.