essayer
English
French
Etymology
Denominal of essai < Late Latin exagium.
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /e.sɛ.je/, /e.se.je/
audio (file)
Verb
essayer
Conjugation
This is a regular -er verb as far as pronunciation is concerned, but as with other verbs in -ayer (such as payer and essayer, the <y> of its stem may optionally be written as <i> when it precedes a silent <e> (compare verbs in -eyer, which never have this spelling change, and verbs in -oyer and -uyer, which always have it; verbs in -ayer belong to both groups, according to the writer's preference).
Conjugation of essayer (see also Appendix:French verbs)
| present participle | essayant /e.sɛ.jɑ̃/ or /e.se.jɑ̃/ | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| past participle | essayé /e.sɛ.je/ or /e.se.je/ | ||||||
| infinitive | |||||||
| simple | essayer | ||||||
| compound | avoir + past participle | ||||||
| gerund1 | |||||||
| simple | essayant /e.sɛ.jɑ̃/ or /e.se.jɑ̃/ | ||||||
| compound | ayant + past participle | ||||||
| singular | plural | ||||||
| first | second | third | first | second | third | ||
| indicative | je (j’) | tu | il, elle | nous | vous | ils, elles | |
| (simple tenses) |
present | essaye or essaie /e.sɛj/ or /e.sɛ/ |
essayes or essaies /e.sɛj/ or /e.sɛ/ |
essaye or essaie /e.sɛj/ or /e.sɛ/ |
essayons /e.sɛ.jɔ̃/ or /e.se.jɔ̃/ |
essayez /e.sɛ.je/ or /e.se.je/ |
essayent or essaient /e.sɛj/ or /e.sɛ/ |
| imperfect | essayais /e.sɛ.jɛ/ or /e.se.jɛ/ |
essayais /e.sɛ.jɛ/ or /e.se.jɛ/ |
essayait /e.sɛ.jɛ/ or /e.se.jɛ/ |
essayions /e.sɛj.jɔ̃/ or /e.sej.jɔ̃/ |
essayiez /e.sɛj.je/ or /e.sej.je/ |
essayaient /e.sɛ.jɛ/ or /e.se.jɛ/ | |
| past historic2 | essayai /e.sɛ.je/ or /e.se.je/ |
essayas /e.sɛ.ja/ or /e.se.ja/ |
essaya /e.sɛ.ja/ or /e.se.ja/ |
essayâmes /e.sɛ.jam/ or /e.se.jam/ |
essayâtes /e.sɛ.jat/ or /e.se.jat/ |
essayèrent /e.sɛ.jɛʁ/ or /e.se.jɛʁ/ | |
| future | essayerai or essaierai /e.sɛj.ʁe/ or /e.sɛ.ʁe/ |
essayeras or essaieras /e.sɛj.ʁa/ or /e.sɛ.ʁa/ |
essayera or essaiera /e.sɛj.ʁa/ or /e.sɛ.ʁa/ |
essayerons or essaierons /e.sɛj.ʁɔ̃/ or /e.sɛ.ʁɔ̃/ |
essayerez or essaierez /e.sɛj.ʁe/ or /e.sɛ.ʁe/ |
essayeront or essaieront /e.sɛj.ʁɔ̃/ or /e.sɛ.ʁɔ̃/ | |
| conditional | essayerais or essaierais /e.sɛj.ʁɛ/ or /e.sɛ.ʁɛ/ |
essayerais or essaierais /e.sɛj.ʁɛ/ or /e.sɛ.ʁɛ/ |
essayerait or essaierait /e.sɛj.ʁɛ/ or /e.sɛ.ʁɛ/ |
essayerions or essaierions /e.sɛ.jə.ʁjɔ̃/ or /e.sɛ.ʁjɔ̃/ |
essayeriez or essaieriez /e.sɛ.jə.ʁje/ or /e.sɛ.ʁje/ |
essayeraient or essaieraient /e.sɛj.ʁɛ/ or /e.sɛ.ʁɛ/ | |
| (compound tenses) |
present perfect | present indicative of avoir + past participle | |||||
| pluperfect | imperfect indicative of avoir + past participle | ||||||
| past anterior2 | past historic of avoir + past participle | ||||||
| future perfect | future of avoir + past participle | ||||||
| conditional perfect | conditional of avoir + past participle | ||||||
| subjunctive | que je (j’) | que tu | qu’il, qu’elle | que nous | que vous | qu’ils, qu’elles | |
| (simple tenses) |
present | essaye or essaie /e.sɛj/ or /e.sɛ/ |
essayes or essaies /e.sɛj/ or /e.sɛ/ |
essaye or essaie /e.sɛj/ or /e.sɛ/ |
essayions /e.sɛj.jɔ̃/ or /e.sej.jɔ̃/ |
essayiez /e.sɛj.je/ or /e.sej.je/ |
essayent or essaient /e.sɛj/ or /e.sɛ/ |
| imperfect2 | essayasse /e.sɛ.jas/ or /e.se.jas/ |
essayasses /e.sɛ.jas/ or /e.se.jas/ |
essayât /e.sɛ.ja/ or /e.se.ja/ |
essayassions /e.sɛ.ja.sjɔ̃/ or /e.se.ja.sjɔ̃/ |
essayassiez /e.sɛ.ja.sje/ or /e.se.ja.sje/ |
essayassent /e.sɛ.jas/ or /e.se.jas/ | |
| (compound tenses) |
past | present subjunctive of avoir + past participle | |||||
| pluperfect2 | imperfect subjunctive of avoir + past participle | ||||||
| imperative | – | – | – | ||||
| simple | — | essaye or essaie /e.sɛj/ or /e.sɛ/ |
— | essayons /e.sɛ.jɔ̃/ or /e.se.jɔ̃/ |
essayez /e.sɛ.je/ or /e.se.je/ |
— | |
| compound | — | simple imperative of avoir + past participle | — | simple imperative of avoir + past participle | simple imperative of avoir + past participle | — | |
| 1 Only usable with preposition en. | |||||||
| 2 In less formal writing or speech, the past historic, past anterior, imperfect subjunctive and pluperfect subjunctive tenses may be found to have been replaced with the indicative present perfect, indicative pluperfect, present subjunctive and past subjunctive tenses respectively (Christopher Kendris [1995], Master the Basics: French, pp. 77, 78, 79, 81). | |||||||
Further reading
- “essayer” in le Trésor de la langue française informatisé (The Digitized Treasury of the French Language).
Middle French
Conjugation
- Middle French conjugation varies from one text to another. Hence, the following conjugation should be considered as typical, not as exhaustive.
Conjugation of essayer
| simple | compound | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| infinitive | essayer | avoir essayé | |||||
| gerund | en essayant | Use the gerund of avoir followed by the past participle | |||||
| present participle | essayant | ||||||
| past participle | essayé | ||||||
| person | singular | plural | |||||
| first | second | third | first | second | third | ||
| indicative | ie (may be i' before a vowel) | tu | il | nous | vous | ilz, elles | |
| simple tenses |
present | essaye | essayes | essaye | essayons | essayez | essayent |
| imperfect | essayois, essayoys | essayois, essayoys | essayoit, essayoyt | essayions, essayyons | essayiez, essayyez | essayoient, essayoyent | |
| past historic | essaya | essayas | essaya | essayasmes | essayastes | essayerent | |
| future | essayerai, essayeray | essayeras | essayera | essayerons | essayerez | essayeront | |
| conditional | essayerois, essayeroys | essayerois, essayeroys | essayeroit, essayeroyt | essayerions, essayeryons | essayeriez, essayeryez | essayeroient, essayeroyent | |
| compound tenses |
present perfect | Use the present tense of avoir followed by the past participle | |||||
| pluperfect | Use the imperfect tense of avoir followed by the past participle | ||||||
| past anterior | Use the past historic tense of avoir followed by the past participle | ||||||
| future perfect | Use the future tense of avoir followed by the past participle | ||||||
| conditional perfect | Use the conditional tense of avoir followed by the past participle | ||||||
| subjunctive | que ie | que tu | qu'il | que nous | que vous | qu'ilz, qu'elles | |
| simple tenses |
present | essaye | essayes | essaye | essayons | essayez | essayent |
| imperfect | essayasse | essayasses | essayast | essayassions | essayassiez | essayassent | |
| compound tenses |
past | Use the present subjunctive of avoir followed by the past participle | |||||
| pluperfect | Use the imperfect subjunctive of avoir followed by the past participle | ||||||
| imperative | – | tu | – | nous | vous | – | |
| — | essaye | — | essayons | essayez | — | ||
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