essayer
English
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
- (transitive) to test, to try on
- Essayez cette chemise. ― Try this shirt on.
- (catenative) to try, to attempt
- 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.
- (reflexive, transitive with à) to try one's hand at
- 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).
Conjugation of essayer (see also Appendix:French verbs)
| 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 | – | – | – | ||||
| 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:
(Christopher Kendris [1995], Master the Basics: French, pp. 77, 78, 79, 81). | |||||||
Related terms
Further reading
- “essayer”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.
Paronyms
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
| 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 | – | – | – | ||||
| 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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