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essayer

From Wiktionary, the free dictionary

English

Etymology

From essay +‎ -er.

Noun

essayer (plural essayers)

  1. (obsolete) One who performs an essay; an experimenter.

French

Etymology

Inherited from Middle French essayer, essaier, from Old French essaiier, essayer, essaier, from essay, essai (“attempt; assay; experiment”) + -er (“infinitive-forming suffix”), from Late Latin exagium (“weight; weighing, testing on the balance”), from Latin exigere + -ium, from ex- + agere, from Proto-Italic *agō, from Proto-Indo-European *h₂éǵeti.

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /e.sɛ.je/ ~ /e.se.je/
  • Audio:(file)

Verb

essayer

  1. (transitive) to test, to try on
    Essayez cette chemise. ― Try this shirt on.
  2. (catenative) to try, to attempt [with de (+ infinitive) ‘to do something’]
    J’ai essayé d’apprendre le piano. ― I tried to learn [to play] the piano.
    Des psychologues ont essayé d’analyser quels traits physiques étaient considérés comme attirants. ― Psychologists have tried to analyze what physical traits were considered to be attractive.
    • 2018, Zaz, Résigne-moi:
      J’essaie vraiment d’ t’aider sans m’oublier.
      I'm truly trying to help you without forgetting myself.
  3. (reflexive) to try one's hand [with à ‘at something’]
    s’essayer à quelque chose ― to try one's hand at something

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 either group, according to the writer's preference).

More information infinitive, simple ...
infinitive simple essayer
compound avoir + past participle
present participle or gerund1 simple essayant
/e.sɛ.jɑ̃/ or /e.se.jɑ̃/
compound ayant + past participle
past participle essayé
/e.sɛ.je/ or /e.se.je/
singular plural
first second third first second third
indicative je (j’) tu il, elle, on 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/		 essayiez
/e.sɛj.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/ or /e.se.ʁe/		 essayeras or essaieras
/e.sɛj.ʁa/ or /e.sɛ.ʁa/ or /e.se.ʁa/		 essayera or essaiera
/e.sɛj.ʁa/ or /e.sɛ.ʁa/ or /e.se.ʁa/		 essayerons or essaierons
/e.sɛj.ʁɔ̃/ or /e.sɛ.ʁɔ̃/ or /e.se.ʁɔ̃/		 essayerez or essaierez
/e.sɛj.ʁe/ or /e.sɛ.ʁe/ or /e.se.ʁe/		 essayeront or essaieront
/e.sɛj.ʁɔ̃/ or /e.sɛ.ʁɔ̃/ or /e.se.ʁɔ̃/
conditional essayerais or essaierais
/e.sɛj.ʁɛ/ or /e.sɛ.ʁɛ/ or /e.se.ʁɛ/		 essayerais or essaierais
/e.sɛj.ʁɛ/ or /e.sɛ.ʁɛ/ or /e.se.ʁɛ/		 essayerait or essaierait
/e.sɛj.ʁɛ/ or /e.sɛ.ʁɛ/ or /e.se.ʁɛ/		 essayerions or essaierions
/e.sɛ.jə.ʁjɔ̃/ or /e.se.jə.ʁjɔ̃/ or /e.sɛ.ʁjɔ̃/ or /e.se.ʁjɔ̃/		 essayeriez or essaieriez
/e.sɛ.jə.ʁje/ or /e.se.jə.ʁje/ or /e.sɛ.ʁje/ or /e.se.ʁje/		 essayeraient or essaieraient
/e.sɛj.ʁɛ/ or /e.sɛ.ʁɛ/ or /e.se.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/		 essayiez
/e.sɛj.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 – tu – nous vous –
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 The French gerund is usable only with the preposition en.
2 In less formal writing or speech, these tenses may be found to have been replaced in the following way:
past historic → present perfect
past anterior → pluperfect
imperfect subjunctive → present subjunctive
pluperfect subjunctive → past subjunctive

(Christopher Kendris [1995], Master the Basics: French, pp. 77, 78, 79, 81).

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Conjugation of essayer (see also Appendix:French verbs)

Further reading

Paronyms

Anagrams

Middle French

Verb

essayer

  1. (transitive) to test
  2. (catenative) to try, to attempt [with de (+ infinitive) ‘to do something’]

Conjugation

  • Middle French conjugation varies from one text to another. Hence, the following conjugation should be considered as typical, not as exhaustive.
More information infinitive, simple ...
infinitive simple essayer
compound avoir + past participle
present participle1 or gerund2 simple essayant
compound present participle or gerund of avoir + past participle
past participle essayé
singular plural
first second third first second third
indicative ie (i’) tu il, elle 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 present indicative of avoir + past participle
pluperfect imperfect indicative of avoir + past participle
past anterior past historic of avoir + past participle
future perfect future of avoir + past participle
conditional perfect conditional of avoir + past participle
subjunctive que ie (i’) que tu qu’il, qu’elle 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 present subjunctive of avoir + past participle
pluperfect imperfect subjunctive of avoir + past participle
imperative – tu – nous vous –
simple — essaye — essayons essayez —
compound — simple imperative of avoir + past participle — simple imperative of avoir + past participle simple imperative of avoir + past participle —
1 The present participle was variable in gender and number until the 17th century (Anne Sancier-Château [1995], Une esthétique nouvelle: Honoré d'Urfé, correcteur de l'Astrée, p. 179). The French Academy would eventually declare it not to be declined in 1679.
2 The gerund was held to be invariable by grammarians of the early 17th century, and was usable with preposition en, as in Modern French, although the preposition was not mandatory (Anne Sancier-Château [1995], op. cit., p. 180).
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Conjugation of essayer

Norwegian Bokmål

Noun

essayer n

  1. indefinite singular of essay

Synonyms

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