pouvoir
French
Etymology
Inherited from Middle French povoir, from Old French povoir, pooir, from earlier Old French poeir, podeir, from Vulgar Latin potēre, regularization of Latin posse. The /-v-/ was eventually added, after the loss of the intervocalic dental, to break hiatus. The archaic 1SG present indicative puis is from a Vulgar Latin *posseō (rather than possō), for which cf. Old Catalan puix.
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /pu.vwaʁ/
audio (file) - (Louisiana) IPA(key): [pu.wɒɾ]
- Rhymes: -waʁ
Verb
pouvoir
- can, to be able to
- Je peux venir ce soir. ― I can come this evening.
- 2018, Zaz (lyrics and music), “Nos Vies”:
- On est des étoiles dans ce ciel bleu clair et on mettra les voiles quand on pourra le faire.
- We are stars in that clear blue sky, and we will set sail when we can.
- may
- désastre qui peut nous frapper ― disaster which may strike us
- (impersonal, reflexive) to be possible; may, could be
- Il se peut que je sois malade.
- (literally) It could be that I'm ill / (more naturally) I may be ill. / I could be ill.
Usage notes
- Pouvoir is not used with verbs relating to the five senses:
- Je te vois ― I (can) see you (not “Je peux te voir”, which is “I can see (i.e. meet) you”)
- Regarding the use of pouvoir and savoir, three sub-senses must be distinguished:
- Savoir is used for “know how to do something, have learnt something”.
- Je sais nager. ― I can swim. / I know how to swim. / I've learnt to swim.
- Pouvoir is generally used for “be currently capable of doing something”, but Belgian French uses savoir.
- Je ne peux pas dormir. (France) / Je ne sais pas dormir. (Belgium) ― I can't sleep. / I'm not currently able to fall asleep.
- Pouvoir is always used for “be free, allowed, unhindered to do something”.
- Je ne peux pas sortir. ― I can't go out. / I'm not allowed to go out. / Something prevents me from going out.
- Savoir is used for “know how to do something, have learnt something”.
- Puis (/pɥi/) is an archaic form of the first person present indicative peux. It is still used in inversion or with the conjunction si:
- Puis-je vous aider? ― May I help you?
- Si je puis me permettre… ― If you don't mind…
Conjugation
Conjugation of pouvoir (see also Appendix:French verbs)
| infinitive | simple | pouvoir | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| compound | avoir + past participle | ||||||
| present participle or gerund1 | simple | pouvant /pu.vɑ̃/ | |||||
| compound | ayant + past participle | ||||||
| past participle | pu /py/ | ||||||
| singular | plural | ||||||
| first | second | third | first | second | third | ||
| indicative | je (j’) | tu | il, elle, on | nous | vous | ils, elles | |
| (simple tenses) |
present | peux /pø/2 |
peux /pø/ |
peut /pø/ |
pouvons /pu.vɔ̃/ |
pouvez /pu.ve/ |
peuvent /pœv/ |
| imperfect | pouvais /pu.vɛ/ |
pouvais /pu.vɛ/ |
pouvait /pu.vɛ/ |
pouvions /pu.vjɔ̃/ |
pouviez /pu.vje/ |
pouvaient /pu.vɛ/ | |
| past historic4 | pus /py/ |
pus /py/ |
put /py/ |
pûmes /pym/ |
pûtes /pyt/ |
purent /pyʁ/ | |
| future | pourrai /pu.ʁe/ |
pourras /pu.ʁa/ |
pourra /pu.ʁa/ |
pourrons /pu.ʁɔ̃/ |
pourrez /pu.ʁe/ |
pourront /pu.ʁɔ̃/ | |
| conditional | pourrais /pu.ʁɛ/ |
pourrais /pu.ʁɛ/ |
pourrait /pu.ʁɛ/ |
pourrions /pu.ʁjɔ̃/ |
pourriez /pu.ʁje/ |
pourraient /pu.ʁɛ/ | |
| (compound tenses) |
present perfect | present indicative of avoir + past participle | |||||
| pluperfect | imperfect indicative of avoir + past participle | ||||||
| past anterior4 | 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 | puisse /pɥis/3 |
puisses /pɥis/ |
puisse /pɥis/ |
puissions /pɥi.sjɔ̃/ |
puissiez /pɥi.sje/ |
puissent /pɥis/ |
| imperfect4 | pusse /pys/ |
pusses /pys/ |
pût /py/ |
pussions /py.sjɔ̃/ |
pussiez /py.sje/ |
pussent /pys/ | |
| (compound tenses) |
past | present subjunctive of avoir + past participle | |||||
| pluperfect4 | imperfect subjunctive of avoir + past participle | ||||||
| imperative | – | – | – | ||||
| simple | — | — | — | — | — | — | |
| 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 puis when inverted. | |||||||
| 3 puissé when inverted. | |||||||
4 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). | |||||||
This verb is impersonal and is conjugated only in the third-person singular.
Conjugation of se pouvoir (see also Appendix:French verbs)
| infinitive | simple | se pouvoir | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| compound | s'être + past participle | ||||||
| present participle or gerund1 | simple | se pouvant /sə pu.vɑ̃/ | |||||
| compound | ayant or étant + past participle | ||||||
| past participle | pu /py/ | ||||||
| singular | plural | ||||||
| first | second | third | first | second | third | ||
| indicative | je (j’) | tu | il, elle, on | nous | vous | ils, elles | |
| (simple tenses) |
present | —2 | — | se peut /sə pø/ |
— | — | — |
| imperfect | — | — | se pouvait /sə pu.vɛ/ |
— | — | — | |
| past historic4 | — | — | se put /sə py/ |
— | — | — | |
| future | — | — | se pourra /sə pu.ʁa/ |
— | — | — | |
| conditional | — | — | se pourrait /sə pu.ʁɛ/ |
— | — | — | |
| (compound tenses) |
present perfect | present indicative of s'être + past participle | |||||
| pluperfect | imperfect indicative of s'être + past participle | ||||||
| past anterior4 | past historic of s'être + past participle | ||||||
| future perfect | future of s'être + past participle | ||||||
| conditional perfect | conditional of s'être + past participle | ||||||
| subjunctive | que je (j’) | que tu | qu’il, qu’elle | que nous | que vous | qu’ils, qu’elles | |
| (simple tenses) |
present | —3 | — | se puisse /sə pɥis/ |
— | — | — |
| imperfect4 | — | — | se pût /sə py/ |
— | — | — | |
| (compound tenses) |
past | present subjunctive of s'être + past participle | |||||
| pluperfect4 | imperfect subjunctive of s'être + past participle | ||||||
| imperative | – | – | – | ||||
| simple | — | — | — | — | — | — | |
| compound | — | simple imperative of s'être + past participle | — | simple imperative of s'être + past participle | simple imperative of s'être + past participle | — | |
| 1 The French gerund is usable only with the preposition en. | |||||||
| 2 puis when inverted. | |||||||
| 3 puissé when inverted. | |||||||
4 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). | |||||||
Derived terms
Related terms
Noun
pouvoir m (plural pouvoirs)
- (countable or uncountable) power
- prendre le pouvoir ― to take power, to seize power
- authority
- (law) power of attorney
Derived terms
References
- “pouvoir”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.
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