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former

to form

verb for-MEH Less Common
Mind & Emotions Mental States

Also means

to train

Usage Note

Former covers both shaping something physically and training or educating people — former des apprentis ('to train apprentices'). It is a false friend for English 'form' in some senses: use remplir un formulaire for 'to fill in a form'. The noun formation means both 'training' and 'formation'.

Examples

"Ce stage forme les futurs enseignants."

Natural Translation

This placement trains future teachers.

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