craindre

to fear, to dread

verb krahn-druh Less Common

Usage Note

Craindre is an irregular verb whose stem changes: je crains, nous craignons. It is more formal than avoir peur de and often appears in writing. The related noun crainte means 'fear' or 'apprehension'. The expression de crainte que ('for fear that') takes the subjunctive and is common in formal prose.

Examples

"Elle craint d'arriver trop tard."

Natural Translation

She fears arriving too late.

Literal Translation

She fears to-arrive too late

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