Skip to content

peiner

to struggle, to toil

verb peh-NEH Rare

Also means

to grieve, to sadden

Usage Note

Peiner has two distinct uses: intransitively it means to struggle or have difficulty (il peine à comprendre — he struggles to understand), and transitively it means to sadden someone (cela me peine beaucoup — that saddens me greatly). The related noun is peine (sorrow, effort, penalty), one of the most versatile words in French.

Examples

"Il peine à trouver les mots justes."

Natural Translation

He struggles to find the right words.

Literal Translation

He struggles to find the just words.

Free starter pack

Building your French vocabulary?

Get the 100 most common French words as a free PDF — one email, no spam.

Explore French by topic